


Weeds

by DarkShanook



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: 707 | Luciel Choi's Real Name, 707 | Luciel Choi's Route, After-ending, Break Up, Cults, F/M, Kidnapping, MC has a backstory, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mint Eye, Multi, NSFW, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Break Up, mostly plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2018-12-03 09:33:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 25
Words: 98,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11529489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkShanook/pseuds/DarkShanook
Summary: The influence of Mint Eye has left a mark on the city.  New cults were sprouting up like weeds.  No matter what happened to help the situation, their roots ran deep, through the whole country.  They always came back.  MC, now trained in the art of stealth, enlisted as an infiltrator to take down the cults from within, and weed out the remnants before they spread further.While feeling separated from Seven, she tries to expand upon her relationships with the other members of the RFA.  Until she is told that Saeran is finally coming home after all this time, dredging up unpleasant memories and dragging her back into the past.  A past that seems to be more interwoven with ongoing events than she originally bargained for.Spoiler Warning: This fic takes part after 707's ending, so there are spoilers for that route.  It has been changed slightly to work better with my story (and I found the ending to be too 'happy').





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This 'chapter' is more of a background/prologue section, so I would recommend reading it.  
> The main story begins in the next chapter.

Today was the day we could come to pick up Saeran.

I’d been living at Rika’s apartment for a while now, and even though Jumin was kind enough to redecorate it for me, it still didn’t feel like it was mine.

Saeyoung had messaged me saying he was coming to pick me up soon. I was surprised he’d realised I wasn’t at the bunker. He’d been ignoring me for months, focusing on Saeran’s recovery. I couldn’t really blame him for that, but I still felt bitter.

Our relationship took the brunt of the strain when Saeran was living with us originally, high as a kite, spouting nonsense. He was struggling to flush the drugs out of his system on his own, which was only heightening his psychological problems caused by his time in Rika’s cult. He had enough control left to not hurt us, but every day was a struggle. I couldn’t take it anymore and Saeyoung was in denial.

It took a while for me to convince Saeyoung that his brother wouldn’t get better just by loving him hard enough. I used Rika and V as an example, which was not appreciated at the time, but it had to be said. We had to learn from V’s mistakes. Though, I found it difficult not to lie to Saeyoung about everything that Saeran did when he wasn’t around. I didn’t want to break the bond that Saeyoung was trying to forge by making him hate his brother.

I feel horrible admitting it, but it was good for a while when Saeran was in the hospital. We were not permitted to see him for at least a week until the drugs were flushed out completely and they found the right level of medication to stabilise him. Despite Saeyoung constantly worrying about Saeran, it felt like we were finally becoming a couple again.

But when visitation was allowed, the relationship slowly degraded more and more. Saeyoung would spend all day with Saeran or stay as long as he was allowed to. It as good for his recovery to be supported by his family and Saeyoung put all of his heart and soul into it, which meant he was too tired and busy to think about anything else.

I did want to help, but I didn’t know how Saeran felt about my presence. Saeyoung said he was finally processing everything he had done with a therapist, which meant he would be aware of what he had done to me, under the influence of Mint Eye and the few days he spent with us when Saeyoung kept him locked up in the bunker with us. Even I hadn’t fully processed these events, and I didn’t want to confront Saeran. I didn’t know how I felt about it.

Saeyoung would come home, eat the leftovers of what I had made and just talk to me about Saeran and nothing else. It slowly drove me insane. The other RFA members noticed I hadn’t been online for a few days and started to worry about me. They invited me out, spent time with me and I felt like I was a part of the world again. I finally felt normal.

So, rather than stay at the bunker, I started focusing on fundraising with the RFA again. We wanted to raise funds for the charities which helped the families and survivors of cults within the country. We also helped to fund companies that were dedicated to infiltrating such cults and taking them down from the inside, through the direction of Vanderwood, since Saeyoung was so busy.  Well I say Vanderwood, but he recently changed his name to Francis Stark.  The name he had always wanted apparently; not that anyone remembered.

New cults had been sprouting up like weeds. No matter what happened to help the situation, their roots ran deep, through the whole country. It felt like everyday a new concerned family member was speaking out about someone who had gone missing or had been missing for a while; it was such a positive change to see people talking openly about these things in such a restrained culture.

Researchers had attributed many reasons for the occurrence of all these cults, with the largest being the amount of vulnerable people that seemed to exist within South Korea, who found these wonderful and caring people, like Rika, and were indoctrinated into their system by drugs. Though, some did not even need to be drugged; they were so disillusioned by either hatred, neglected mental illness or their need for something meaningful to exist in their lives, that they accepted their leader’s orders without question.

Plenty of organisations had been unknowingly funding them for years, including Jumin’s. C&R had been funding Rika’s organisation through direct-debit for years, even before the group had actually been formed. The head of C&R’s finance department was involved in the cult and had been setting up multiple direct-debits from the company that all eventually led to Rika and Mint Eye. The payments were labelled and filed as things that a company could conceivably be funding, such as employees, who didn’t actually exist, but where recorded as working there and were even somehow sending in their work to their department. Simple things, such as stationary companies that were only used as a proxy. Even important things, such as other charities that were actually used to fund Mint Eye, if you searched far enough down the line.

They were getting better at it, however. We’d often get a lead on a cult and find that they’d already disappeared. They also seemed to be much more efficient at obtaining vast amounts of firearms. Saeyoung was confident that Mint Eye was disbanded, but they could have merged into any one of the others or hidden away, waiting for their saviour to return.


	2. Day one: Saeran's Return

Saeyoung dropped me off at the bunker in the end, and travelled on his own to get Saeran.

I had asked him the last time he’d cleaned the place and he admitted the last time it was clean was when I was last there, so I thought it would be best to spend the next hour or so cleaning up for Saeran’s return. I was also anxious about seeing Saeran again.

Saeyoung had hoped I’d return to the bunker with him now Saeran was back and he wouldn’t be busy anymore, but I couldn’t muster up any sort of reply. It’s true that the main problem with our relationship was neglect, but we’d grown so far apart, and I don’t know if I can just go back like nothing happened.

I opened the RFA app before I started cleaning and everyone but Saeyoung was online.

Jaehee: MC, have you gone to see Saeran yet?

MC: Hello Jaehee :) No, Saeyoung left just now to pick him up

Yoosung: Hi MC!

Jumin: He went on his own?

Zen: He left you?!

MC: Hi everyone! I couldn’t go because I have to clean the bunker. It’s a complete mess!

Jaehee: Want some help?

MC: If anyone has the time, I would appreciate it :)

Zen: Jumin is busy bossing me around on set for the new commercial :(

Jumin: Do you ever appreciate anything I do for you, Zen?

Yoosung: Sorry MC! The clinic is really busy right now. I’m on break right now :(

Jaehee: I have the day off, so I am available.

MC: Aww, Jaehee you should be relaxing!

Zen: Even with the new assistant he still finds a way to overwork you Jaehee!

Jumin: Having the assistant allows Ms Kang enough time to have days off.

Jaehee: Don’t worry about it MC, I find cleaning relaxing, so long as it isn’t cat hair. I’ll come over straight away!

MC: Thank you Jaehee!

Jaehee logged off

MC: Will you two every stop fighting?

Jumin: Zen always complains about all the work I give him.

Zen: Because you purposefully give me work to do with cats!

Jumin: Would you rather be unemployed?

I rolled my eyes and logged off the app without saying goodbye. I had a lot of work to do, but at least I have Jaehee to help me now. I started arranging the spare room first, since that would be the room Saeran would be staying in. At least his room will be nice and inviting, even if we don’t finish cleaning everything else.

The spare room was surprisingly not that messy in comparison to the rest of the house. Probably because it was the room I used whilst I stayed here. I hadn’t realised I’d left some of my clothes in the hamper in the bathroom. I quickly pulled it all out and shoved it in the nightstand cupboard so I could take it home later.

Jaehee arrived after I had finished with the spare room and we worked our way around the bunker together, leaving Seayoung’s room alone since Jaehee felt too awkward to clean in there. It had taken us a few hours, but I hadn’t heard anything from the twins so I hadn’t realised what time it was. It was fairly late into the afternoon.

“Wow, that flew by, I’d better get going now.” Jaehee sighed “I hope Saeran is fully recovered!” She said cheerfully, hugging me goodbye.

“Me too.” I replied, “I’ll try calling Saeyoung.”

“Okay, let me know if you need anything.”

“I will, and thank you Jaehee.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She said, blushing slightly before she walked out the door and drove away.

I rang Saeyoung’s number, but it just went to the machine. I sighed and decided to go for a shower with the freshly laundered towels since I probably smelled pretty bad by now. Hopefully they were one their way back and nothing bad had happened.

The water felt good on my skin. Despite the shabby looking appearance of the bunker, it had amazing facilities. Much better than the low-pressure shower at Rika’s apartment. As I washed the suds off my body I heard the door to the bathroom open suddenly.

I jumped and banged my head against the glass as I tried to hide myself.

“Saeyoung, I’m in the shower!” I half-shouted, half-whispered.

“Hello MC.” I opened my eyes to find Saeran standing in the doorway, with no sign of Saeyoung. He smiled at me in a slightly creepy but affectionate way.

“Saeyoung went to get take-out dinner for us, since you so kindly cleaned the bunker.” He said, whilst slowly moving closer to me. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest.

“So, it’ll be just like old times…” He trailed off. I closed my eyes, anticipating something would happen, but when I opened them he was holding one of the big fluffy towels out to me and his face was bright red. I hesitantly took the towel and he turned his back to me, clenching and unclenching his fists. I turned the shower off and wrapped myself in the towel.

“Saeran…” I stammered. He didn’t look at me, but he gave me a small grunt to let me know he was listening. “Are you alright?” I asked. He finally turned to look at me and looked surprised. He didn’t answer me, but he reached out and touched my forehead where I had banged my head.

“I should be asking you that…” He whispered, brushing my wet hair out of the way, looking at my forehead. He brushed his fingers over it lightly and looked at me straight in the eyes. “It’s only a red mark, but it might bruise.” He said, making his way slowly out of the bathroom. I let go of the breath I didn’t know I was holding, shut the bathroom door, and started drying myself off. 

I didn’t have a lot of clothes left at Saeyoung’s so I just changed into some spare pyjamas I had, which was one of Saeyoung’s shirts and a pair of knee length pyjama bottoms. I could hear Saeran moving around in the spare room, likely putting away his clothes and other stuff. I slowly left the bathroom hoping I wouldn’t disturb him, but he looked directly at me as soon as I opened the door.

“I didn’t think you belonged to him anymore.” He said flatly, looking disappointed.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You’re wearing his shirt.”

“I… It’s just a shirt Saeran.” He glared at me and walked up to me. He put his hand on my chin and made me look up at him. Whilst he wasn’t quite as tall as Saeyoung, he was still far taller than me.

“You know I chose you for a reason, right?” He asked.

“Ch-Chose me? Saeran, I…” I stammered not really sure what to say to him. He kept staring into my eyes, waiting for me. I heard the front door open and Saeran looked over his shoulder. I used the opportunity to move away from him and half jogged out of the room to help Saeyoung with the bag of food.

“Wow, this place looks amazing, babe!” He exclaimed looking around the room whilst setting the bag down on the table. He actually sounded happy for once. Saeran coming home must have lifted so much weight off of his shoulders.

I felt guilty for giving up on him and not supporting him, but his distress slowly crushed me until I felt like nothing. He said he wouldn’t do that to me again after what happened before we tracked down Saeran, but pushing people away when he’s stressed seems to just be his personality. I couldn’t really change that, and neither could he.

“Jaehee helped me as well” I smiled softly.

“Really? I thought she’d be too busy!” He replied.

“Well she has Jeong helping her now.”

“Jeong?” He asked confused.

“Her assistant?” I replied.

“She has her own assistant? Wow, I’ve really got a lot of catching up to do! No matter, god 707 is on the case!” He laughed. I smiled, maybe a little too sadly when Saeran came out of his room and rested his chin on top of my head. I froze, but Saeyoung looked at him and laughed.

“All settled in Sae-Sae?” Saeyoung asked happily.

Saeran grumbled “Stop calling me that…”

“Ah, come on!” He laughed whilst walking away to set up the table.

Saeran leaned closer to my face to whisper in my right ear “He’s acting as though nothing happened, MC. I know you don’t want to play pretend.” He softly nuzzled the right side of my face and walked away to join Saeyong at the table.

I slightly staggered to the kitchen to get a drink before I sat down at the table. As per usual, all Saeyoung had was PhD. Pepper.

“I hope you start buying less crap for us to eat, Saeyoung” Saeran complained.

“How dare you!” Saeyoung said, jokingly startled. “MC can buy you whatever stuff you want” He stated, like it was fact. I choked on my drink a bit and looked at Saeran, who looked at me with an ‘I told you so’ face. I didn’t want to ruin the mood, so I stayed quiet. I’ll have to talk to Saeyoung later. Saeran looked at me disappointed and sighed.

“MC doesn’t have to do anything for me, or you.” He said flatly. Saeyoung initially looked annoyed, but then put his mask back on.

“Haha, come on, come on, I’m just joking Sae-Sae, don’t be so serious!” He laughed while waving his concerns away. 

We continued to eat in relative silence after that awkward conversation and then Saeyoung yawned loudly.

“We ought to get some rest, right MC?” Saeyoung asked, meeting my gaze.

“She’s sleeping with me.” Saeran replied. Saeyoung looked at me questioningly, but then seemed to remember something. “Ehh, you want to sleep on her lap like you used to?” He asked hopefully.

“Sure.” Saeran replied blankly, not really giving a definitive answer.

“I… I’ll just drive home, or sleep on the settee, don’t worry about it” I said quickly, trying to diffuse the situation.

“I don’t think so.” Saeran replied. I looked at him shocked and Saeyoung just laughed it off.

“What do you say, MC? It’ll just help him sleep better, he won’t be any trouble.” He reasoned, more with himself than me.

“Fine…” I agreed, feeling awkward. I got up to help clean up, but Saeyoung held out his hand.

“It’s okay, I’ll do it this one time, you’ve been cleaning all day after all” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. I turned and followed Saeran into his room, quickly rushing into the bathroom to brush my teeth. He followed in after me and started doing the same whilst staring at me.

“You don’t have to be so awkward around me.” He said before brushing his teeth. How could I not be? It seemed like all he wanted to do was make me feel awkward around both of them. I definitely can’t stay here in the future. The atmosphere was stifling. 

When I finished I started to leave, but Saeran grabbed me around the waist and held me to his chest until he was done, then he turned me to face him.

“Do you hate me, MC?”


	3. Day one: A Restless Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the chapters where the above warnings are the most relevant.

“Do you hate me, MC?” He asked, not really looking at me. I looked at him, confused.

“Of course I don’t, but I…” I trailed off, now distracted by him staring into my eyes. His eyes were still mint green, forever a reminder of his past. He kept a blank expression, like he was trying to look into my soul. He pulled me forward by my shirt and kissed me roughly, surprising me. He pulled away quickly and stared at me to gauge my expression. I looked at him, dazed.

“Surprised, yet a look of familiarity…” He whispered. “Who else has kissed you this way? Certainly not Saeyoung.” He said accusatorially.

“Wh-What are you talking about?” I stuttered.

“Hmm, no matter.” He whispered. “You’ve always belonged to me, MC”. He said, lightly pushing me against the counter and putting his hands either side of me so I couldn’t escape. My heart sped up, remembering.

“Saeran…”

“Of course Saeyoung would fall for you. We’re twins after all.” He whispered, stroking my cheek lightly. He sighed. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not crazy. I’ve had to wait to see you for months… Why did you just leave me there?” He asked. My mind swam with information, none of them leading to answers.

I care about Saeran, but I don’t know how I feel about him at all. Our relationship was chaotic at best. I didn’t enjoy Saeran’s advances at the start, but I’d been conditioned to accept them, and even enjoy them, in a very short period of time.

“I… didn’t know you wanted me around, Saeran.” I replied.

“But I asked for you.” He said, annoyed. I looked at him confused, which only seemed to irritate him further. “Of course he didn’t tell you” He grumbled, pushing away from me and walking back into the room. He paced around a little and then started to head out of the room. I grabbed onto his arm, so he turned and looked at me.

“Don’t…” I whispered. He smirked and pulled me against his chest, hugging me tightly. I tried to pull away, but he just held me tighter. He reached behind him and turned off the light. He picked me up and dumped me on the bed. He climbed on with me, but moved onto the other side.

“Go to sleep, MC” He whispered. I moved to get under the covers and then laid silently on my back, feeling too overwhelmed to really say anything. How could he know what I’ve done when he’s been in the hospital? From a look? Really?

Saeran snuggled up against my side and rested his head on my shoulder, wrapping his arm around my waist. I felt uncomfortable but I didn’t move. I wasn’t used to sleeping here anymore, never mind sleeping next to Saeran. I seemed to essentially ‘couch-hop’ between the RFA members recently, working too late, or just feeling lonely. I felt bad for them really, but they were just concerned about me. Jumin even offered to just let me stay at his penthouse for the foreseeable future, but I didn’t want to be burden on him or the others.

Saeran started to lightly kiss my shoulder, but I didn’t know if he was actually awake. I tried to ignore it, but Saeran was persistent. He started to stroke his hand along my hip and up my side, so he was definitely still awake. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to calm my breathing. His hand grazed against the side of my chest and I made a muffled moan. He stopped then and scolded himself.

“No… This is wrong…” He whispered.

He buried his face back into my shoulder and left me alone. I fell into an uneasy sleep.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I awoke to feelings of extreme pleasure and gripped onto whatever was either side of my body whilst moaning loudly. A hand slapped over my mouth and I looked down to see mint green eyes piercing into me from between my legs.

“You wouldn’t want to wake up Saeyoung would you?” Saeran asked me, chuckling creepily.

He slid his hand from my mouth slowly, trailing down my body, making me shiver and struggle to hold in my noises. I already felt so close, how long had he been doing this?

He placed his hands back on my thighs, holding them tightly. I tried to move away from him, but he glared at me with murderous eyes and dug his nails into my thighs, plunging his tongue back between my folds, exploring me viciously. I gripped the duvet to take out my frustration, and then decided to grab a pillow and smother my face into it, holding back my moans and my tears.

“Still a virgin I see.” He giggled, licking his lips slowly, tasting me.

“No matter… you belong to me, MC.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I awoke in a cold sweat and found Saeran holding me so tight that it felt like he was squeezing the life out of me. He still had the nightmares, just as I often relived painful memories. I managed to sit up slightly and rest against the headboard. I stroked Saeran’s hair to try to calm him, whilst pushing down my feelings due to the dream when my phone started ringing. It was Jumin, so it was probably important. Thankfully, Saeran calmed down, so I answered it quietly.

“Jumin?”

“You might want to come to my office MC.” He replied, sounding frustrated.

“Have you found something?”

He sighed “Mint Eye are still active.”

“What?!” I asked, suddenly sitting up straight, disturbing Saeran. “How do you know?” I asked quickly, before Saeran woke up completely.  
“They sent something to the penthouse, addressed to you. It did not make it into the building due to my security, but they know we are there, or at least that you are. You might want to see it.”

“I’ll come over as soon as I can Jumin.”

“Good, Stark has already started to look into it. I will see you soon” He said, hanging up the phone. I started to move to get off the bed but Saeran pulled me down and into his embrace.

“Saeran, I need to get ready.” I said, into his chest.

“I’m not letting you get involved with Mint Eye again.” He said, holding me tightly.

“Saeran… I’ve been trying to find them for- “

“What!” He shouted, angrily, looking down at me. I buried my face into his chest, so he sat up and pinned me down by my wrists so I had to look at him. “How could they let you get involved again?”

“It was my lead, Saeran. I’d been following someone we’d suspected of being a member for a few weeks now.”

“So you’re a tracker now?!” He asked angrily, putting more pressure on my wrists.

“Vanderwood- “

“No!” He shouted. “How could he let you do this? Isn’t that his fucking job!?” I assumed he meant Saeyoung, since Saeran had never met Vanderwood to my knowledge.

“Saeyoung doesn’t know anything about me anymore…” I whispered, tears starting to form in my eyes, my emotions breaking through. Saeran’s expression softened, lessening the grip he had on my wrists. He leaned over and kissed me softly.

My eyes widened and he kept kissing me, as though he had been holding back. He stroked down my thigh with one of his hands which made audibly shudder, allowing Saeran to shove his tongue into my mouth, exploring the inside. He gripped tightly on my thigh, slightly digging his nails in. I finally capitulated to the kiss like a natural reaction, and moaned into his mouth which seemed to drive him on. He slowly moved his hand down to grab onto my butt and pulled me closer against him.

The hand that still held my wrist moved to hold my hand, sliding his fingers into mine. He was being oddly affectionate, which threw me off entirely. I heard my phone vibrating again and turned my head to look towards it, but Saeran kissed up and down my now exposed neck, digging his teeth into my shoulder slightly, distracting me again.

I moaned more loudly when an alarm went off in the bunker.


	4. Day two: The Memory Box

I moaned more loudly when an alarm went off in the bunker and the lights turned off, leaving the room with a reddish hue.

“Saeran…?” I asked, worried. Whilst I was trained well in marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat wasn’t my strong suit as of yet, and I didn’t have my gun with me. He got off the bed quickly and pulled me up to stand with him.

“Stay here.” He said quickly. I shook my head and he sighed, holding my hand and pulling me out of the room with him. “Fine, but stay behind me”. Saeran and I sneaked towards the kitchen when we heard Saeyoung cry out.

We rushed forward, only to find Saeyoung stood with a towel that was on fire, next to some pretty burnt looking pancakes.

“What the fuck Saeyoung!” Saeran shouted angrily. Saeyoung turned towards us in surprise and threw the towel in the sink and turned the water on.

“I only left it alone for two seconds!” He cried in fake anguish. “I just wanted to do something nice for my baby brother” He swooned dramatically.

“Cut the crap and turn off the alarm!”

“Aye, aye captain.” Saeyoung said with a salute and ran away downstairs.

“How about I make breakfast?” I asked Saeran, hoping he would calm down. He sighed and smiled at me.

“Is there even anything to make breakfast with in this hell hole?” He laughed.

“Well there was apparently enough for pancakes…” I said, searching through the cupboards and the fridge. There was enough for ham and cheese omelettes, the food was surprisingly in date. I turned around to find Saeran staring at me longingly from behind and heard the alarm had finally turned off.

“I think you missed something in the cupboard back there…” He said, smirking. I threw the packaged ham towards him, but he caught it easily, laughing at me. He placed it back down with the other ingredients and watched me start to prepare the food. Saeyoung bounded back up the stairs and came to join Saeran.

“All fixed up!” He exclaimed. “Ooh, omelettes, thank you sweetie” He said, waggling his brows at me. Saeran growled at him and I froze. However, Saeyoung just laughed at him playfully and Saeran rolled his eyes. I served the omelettes and could hear my phone vibrating from the other room, so I went to answer it.

When I answered it all I could hear was some garbled static and creepy breathing. I was about to hang up when I heard a voice on the line.

“Hello, MC.” I yelped, hanging up the phone immediately. The twins must have heard me, because when I turned around they were standing in the doorway.

“What’s up?” Saeyoung asked cautiously.

“I think they tried to track my phone.”

“How long were you on the line for?” Saeran asked quickly.

“Saeran, you don’t have to get involved with this stuff anymore… Wait, who are they? Why are people hacking you?” I ignored his questions, I didn’t have enough time to explain my life to him.

“I am involved.” Saeran said defiantly. “How long?” He asked again, irritated.

“About 30 seconds.” I said, holding up my phone to show him.

“With our location, it wouldn’t be long enough to track the call.” Saeyoung said.

“So you say…” Saeran sneered.

“Don’t insult my home!”

“Guys…” I sighed. “I need to go to Jumin’s office, so I’ll let him handle this.”

“Jumin? He doesn’t know anything about hacking” Saeyoung replied, confused.

“Look I don’t have time to explain everything to you-”

“Everything? How long has this been going on for?” He asked, irritated.

“Someone had to do something, okay!? You weren’t interested. You didn’t come to the parties, you didn’t answer Vanderwood’s calls, Jumin’s, or mine!” I spat angrily.

“MC…” He called out to me weakly as I walked away to get dressed. Saeyoung looked confused and ashamed of himself.

I quickly got dressed in what I was wearing yesterday and ran straight into Saeran in the doorway.

“I’ll talk to Saeyoung.” He said flatly. “He can’t deny that things have changed without him.”

“Thank you Saeran, but I can talk to him on my own, just not now.” I said, trying to get past him. He put his arm in the way of me. I could move it if I wanted to, but it probably wasn’t worth it.

“MC…” He whispered and pulled me against him with the arm blocking my path. “I can probably help you find them, you know that right?” He asked. I sighed and looked up at him, mint eyes gleaming.

“I’ll ask Jumin about it.”

“Does he do everything for you now?”

“Jumin is in charge of the RFA and he has the resources to actually help us find these people.”

“Pah, I know more about the inner workings of Mint Eye than any of you.” He whispered, leaning close. I swallowed, awkwardly.

“That doesn’t mean it’s the same as it was…” I replied slowly.

“Alright, I’ll let you go, for now” He sighed. “But if this doesn’t work out, let me know what’s going on… please? You don’t want to be caught by them MC.” I sighed and Saeran suddenly kissed me, causing me to make a noise in surprise.

“Saeran…” Saeran turned in surprise to find Saeyoung standing in the hallway behind him. “Saeran, what the fuck are you doing!?” He asked angrily.

“I think that would be obvious.” He replied bluntly. I tried to squirm out of his arms, but he held onto me tightly. Why is he doing this now? People could be in danger…

“How long has this been going on for!?

“Before you even knew her name.”

“What? You liked her all this time?” Saeyoung asked, calming down. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“When would I have even brought that up, Saeyoung?” Saeyoung made several strange faces before becoming completely emotionless.

“I… need to be alone for a while, we’ll talk later. See ya, MC…” He said coldly, walking off to his office downstairs like a robot.

“That went well…” Saeran said, awkwardly.

“That’s an understatement.” I replied. “I have to go.”

“Let me know when you’re coming back.”

“If” I replied quickly, trying to push past Saeran. Saeran grabbed my arm and I tried to shake me off, but he was persistent and held me against the wall.

“If you don’t come back, I’ll drag you back.” He warned.

“Sounds like fun.” I replied sarcastically.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I arrived at Jumin’s office, and was led in to the waiting room by Jaehee.

“I think he’s taking a call right now MC, but he should be done soon.” Jaehee smiled.

“I suppose I’m a bit late… are you on your break, Jaehee?”

“No, the office is quite busy today. Though I will ask you, how is everything with Saeran… and Saeyoung?”

“I could talk to you for hours about that Jaehee.” I sighed. I didn’t want to say nothing, but I don’t want to mention the twin’s current feud. That would lead to a much longer conversation. Jaehee knows about Saeyoung, but I’ve never told anyone about Saeran. “But the main thing is that Saeyoung was acting like we were still a couple, after everything that’s happened!”

“Really? Is he the only one that couldn’t see it? I mean, I know you haven’t told the guys about anything, but they’ve asked me if you two are still dating, since you spend so much time with us without him.”

“Ugh, I know. Even Saeran looked confused…”

“I suppose he’d know better than anyone how little time he spent at home… Anyway, I’ve got a lot of reports to finish, so I’ll call you later if I have time, okay?”

“Thanks Jaehee…” I sighed, smiling. I could tell she was busy today, she hadn’t even got me to try some sort of new crazy coffee invention or discovery she had found. I implored Jumin to get Jaehee an assistant for her sanity, warning him that she’d probably burn out and quit otherwise. It seemed to take a lot of the strain off at least, especially when I convinced him to install the coffee making area in the private lounge…

The door to Jumin’s office opened and a large old man walked out, talking in a foreign language that only Jumin understood. He quickly left the area after seeing me sat waiting and Jumin walked out quickly, surprised to see me.

“Ah, MC, I expected you to be here earlier.”

“Yes, I’m sorry… Let’s just say Saeyoung tried to make breakfast-” Jumin interrupted me by holding up his hand and sighing deeply.

“I do not want to know… come this way.” He said, gesturing for me to come into his office. “I did not know you would be staying overnight…” He said whilst sitting down in his chair and taking off his suit jacket.

“I hadn’t been planning on it…” I replied vaguely.

“I see… Anyway, this is the box I told you about.” He said, placing his hand on top of the raggedy box that was on his desk. It looked fairly worn, but I imagined Jumin had his team check the contents before letting it anywhere near Jumin. The symbol of Mint Eye was painted on each side of the box in different colours.

“Have you looked inside?”

“Briefly… I think you will find the contents of it rather disturbing.” He replied, carefully.

I opened the lid slowly, it looked like a bunch of photos and a load of old worthless knick-knacks you’d find in storage, only holding sentimental value. I picked up the first photo I could get a hold of and nearly dropped it straight back into the box in shock. They were pictures of me… as a child. Pictures, I thought were lost to time. How did they have these? I hadn’t seen them since they were taken over 15 years ago… Jumin brought me out of my state by placing his hand on top of mine.

“Maybe I should have given you a better warning.” He said softly.

“It’s not your fault.” I sighed. “What is this supposed to mean? A warning or a threat? A ploy to creep me out? Because I’m pretty damn creeped…” Jumin chuckled softly.

“Stark has already collected samples from the box, in the hopes that we will find some connection that way.”

“I hope he finds something useful out of all this…”

“I do too. I do not like the idea of Mint Eye having such private information about you. Especially the original copies of documents and family photographs.” He said, worried. I decided to change the subject to something more light-hearted rather than also bring up the garbled phone call I’d received. I knew he wouldn’t be able to get back to work if he was concerned about me, like whenever I went out on a job for Vanderwood.

Maybe if I stuck around for a while he’d feel better. I often hung out in Jumin’s office, even if he was busy. He was always nice enough to move his meetings to a different room so I didn’t even have to leave. It was always nice and quiet, a good place to think, with a beautiful view of the city, that even the most expensive suites could not match for value. This also meant I could hide away from the Choi twins. They were both out of the loop and I was too busy trying to help Vanderwood tie together a thousand fraying threads of information.

“Are you busy today, Jumin? I asked sweetly.

“Would you like to stay in my office again?” He asked, knowingly, smiling to himself.

“If you don’t mind…” I replied coyly.

“I do not have many meetings today, so you should be fine to be here so long as you do not distract me, or at least not too much.”

“Me? Distract you? How could you say such a thing?” I laughed.

“Just having you in my office alone is rather distracting MC.” He replied, smiling ever so slightly. He went back to looking at some documents on his desk, whilst I slowly slithered out of the chair and laid on the floor in a heap. I don’t know how he puts up with me, honestly.


	5. Day Three & Four: Cuddle-buddies and Tasers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a pretty long chapter, so enjoy :)

“MC… MC.” I felt like I was being shaken, so I opened my eyes to see Jumin crouched down next to me. Papers and photos were strewn around me.

“Are you alright MC?” Jumin asked me. I nodded hesitantly and slowly sat up.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“An hour or two I believe, based on your light snoring.” He replied, smiling.

“Don’t tease me.” I grumbled. “I feel like I have a hangover or something…” Jumin sighed and held his hand out to me to help me up. I took it and wobbled, nearly falling straight into his chest.

“I think you need some water…” Jumin said, slowly moving away from me after he steadied me on the desk. He held out a plastic cup of water to me after a few moments and I tried to hold myself back from downing it straight away. I sighed happily, feeling refreshed.

“Thank you” I said.

“Would you like me to get a car for you?”

“Ah, yes, thank you. I told Zen I’d go over to his place today.” I said, wanting to forget about Saeran entirely.

“I’ll call Driver Kim. I can take you there before I go home.” I smiled at him and he pulled out his phone. “We can talk about the box on the way.”

“Alright… Oh and Jumin, could you do me a favour?”

“What do you want?” He sighed.

“Could you… call Saeyoung and tell him about what’s going on. I really don’t have the energy to talk to him right now.” I explained, feeling guilty. His expression softened, and he considered my request. Jumin shouldn’t have to deal with my problems, even if he is the RFA’s leader now. I think he’s too soft on me compared to the other members, but no one ever said anything.

“I’ll see if Stark will do it. He might appreciate Saeyoung’s help after all this time. If not, I will see what I can do.”

“Thank you, for everything” I said, feeling relieved.

“It is my responsibility to handle the RFA’s problems.” He said, meeting my eyes. “Ah, driver Kim, bring the car around.” He said into the phone, quickly turning away from me and motioning for me to follow him. I followed behind him and Jaehee waved me goodbye, whilst other employees eyed me suspiciously. Jaehee had told me to spend less time here, but with the investigation it was difficult to meet with Jumin outside of his office on a regular basis, so I gave up trying after a while.

As I followed him into the lift, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. Saeyoung was calling me. Apparently, he’d called me a few times throughout the day but I hadn’t noticed, though I imagined that they were from Saeran since he didn’t have his own phone yet. I hadn’t had anymore unknown calls at least.

We quickly left the building before someone could rope Jumin into more work and slid into the back of driver Kim’s car. Jumin directed him on where to go and he set off driver immediately. Jumin then snapped his attention to me.

“Did you find anything useful?”

“I’m not sure… it was just stuff related to my close relatives; my mum, dad, my older brother and my younger sister, Hae. Though, I haven’t heard from them in years, which is why I ended up here in the first place. Do you think they could be involved somehow?” I asked, feeling both concerned and disinterested.

My parents had basically disowned me for not following the path they had set out for me, but they were still my family and I still cared about them, especially Hae. She had only just turned thirteen when I left home three years ago at nineteen. We had been quite close and I hadn’t been able to say goodbye. I wonder what she thought of me know…? Jumin must have noticed my expression, because he put his arm around me and hugged me against his shoulder.

“We might need another hacker to help with that.” He said bluntly.

“We are not asking Saeyoung…”

“Stark and his team are too busy to look at everything, MC.” He warned whilst stroking my hair. I sighed loudly at him.

“Didn’t he already look up my personal life when I joined?”

“Maybe you should ask him.” He teased. I groaned and buried my face into his shoulder. “If you were surprised to see the information in the box, I imagine public record was not very forthcoming with information for Saeyoung to find.”

That could make sense. The last I had heard of my family was a news report about the house burning down, complete destruction. How would that information have survived? Was it really a tragic accident or was it a cover-up?

“I actually spoke to your father recently…” Jumin began. I looked away from him, feeling a little betrayed that he hadn’t told me sooner. “It was just business, MC, he never mentioned you. I do not know if he was even aware that you were… involved with me or the RFA.”

“Even if he was, he wouldn’t have mentioned it, he’s too proud.” I whispered, staring out the window at the slowly setting sun. “How… was he? How did he look?”  
“Drained, I suppose would be the most accurate description. He looked older than my father.”

“My mum is much younger than my dad. He should have probably retired by now. Maybe Yong-sun isn’t ‘good enough’ for him after all.” I said, bitterly. I could feel Jumin staring at the back of my head, but he didn’t say anything else. Despite everyone thinking of Jumin as a cold unfeeling robot, he could sense my mood without too much effort. He knew that if I wanted to talk about it I would.

We soon reached Zen’s apartment. I tried to quickly leave, but Jumin placed his hand on my shoulder. I look behind me quizzically.

“Are you staying the night?” He asked.

“I haven’t decided yet.” I replied. Jumin narrowed his eyes a little, but continued regardless.

“You cannot avoid the Choi’s forever.” He said, but I ignored him and held his gaze. He sighed. “If you decide to go home, be careful. You can always call driver Kim.”

“Thank you, Jumin” I mumbled, stumbling out of the car.

I walked up the apartment and took the lift to the top floor. Due to the controversy surrounding Zen, he had to move to a different part of the city so he could avoid paparazzi and crazy fans. He wasn’t very happy about it, but we managed to convince him after the nonsense started to ware him down. There were weeks when he would hide out in his apartment, not managing to escape before being mobbed. Jumin had arranged for him to stay in one of the ‘secured’ penthouse apartments in one of the many buildings C&R owned. Zen had initially been angry about it, having to accept Jumin’s help, but they had just started to get along together again so he wasn’t quite as volatile as he had been in the past.

I knocked on the door and Zen rushed to open it and pulled me inside into a tight hug. He was already in his pyjamas and had untied his hair, leaving the long locks to cascade around us both.

“Good to see you, babe” He smiled widely.

“Good to see you too, Hyun.” I smiled back, weakly.

“Oh no… what have they done to you now?” He asked, brushing his hand against my cheek.

“I feel like I’m slowly going insane.” I laughed, bitterly. He frowned a little and quickly kissed you on the cheek.

“I’ll make us some tea!” He said while jogging into his kitchen. “Make yourself a home!” He called over to me. I touched my face where he had kissed me and slowly flopped down on the big white settee in the Livingroom. I still felt so tired, even after my several hours nap earlier. I guess life was just weighing me down…

Zen eventually brought out the tea whilst you were surfing through the news on your phone. You picked up the mug from the table and enjoyed feeling the warmth ebb out into your hands.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked. You blew on the tea to cool it down and had a small sip.

“Hmm, Camomile…” You sighed, dreamily.

“I’ll take that as a no…” He sighed in return. You didn’t reply, and slowly kept sipping more of the tea. Zen turned on the tv so we could watch one of the new movies that had come out, but I was too tired to really pay attention to it. I rested my head on his shoulder and he put his arm around me. I heard my phone starting to vibrate but I just left it to ring, Zen eyed me suspiciously.

“An unknown caller is ringing you.” He stated and I flinched slightly which just made him more suspicious.

“It’s probably just some marketing crap…”

“Mhmm… Seems like you already know what it is.”

“It was just some stupid call. Probably just some kids pranking me.”

“I’m not stupid MC, I’m pretty sure Vander... Stark could hack your phone to ignore nuisance calls. You’ve gotten yourself into trouble again haven’t you?”

“Trouble might be a strong word…”

“Come on MC! Why won’t you just talk to me anymore? You’re so secretive with us now, ever since you started working with Stark. You never talk to us in the chat anymore, and when you come over you just deflect our concerns and go to sleep! Me and Yoosung-!” I cut Zen off by slamming my lips against his and pushing him down on the settee, causing him to make a muffled cry.

He didn’t push me away, and held me tightly against him instead, wrapping his arms around me and stroking up and down my back. His kisses were needy, almost desperate. I hadn’t spent time with him for a while; he’d been trying to stay away from me despite his feelings as he felt guilty for betraying Saeyoung. He slid his hands under my shirt and starting stroking patterns on my back when the phone starting ringing again and fell off of the coffee and onto the floor. This seemed to bring Zen back to reality and pulled his face away from mine.

“You can’t just exploit my weaknesses.” He mumbled, his face red. “I want to know things about you, like before all this mess.” He said, looking away from me. “You complained about Saeyoung, but you’re just the same as him.” He said, sliding me off of him. He moved to sit next to me, and put his head in his hands. I turned onto my side, looking at the movie in silence. Zen is too kind, I’m worse than Saeyoung.

“I… can’t handle it anymore, Hyun. Saeyoung and Saeran…” I whispered, barely audible, but Zen heard me all the same.

“You can talk to me, MC.” He smiled, placing his hand on mine, trying to comfort me and encourage me.

“Saeyoung still thinks I’m his girlfriend, like nothing happened… though, maybe not now…” I said, whimpering, remembering what had happened earlier. “Saeran insists that I am his and…and…” I trailed off, starting to cry, an ugly, haunting cry, filled with a year of repressed memories.

Zen looked at a loss for words, he never knew I held so much pain in my heart and he didn’t want to push me too far. He slowly pulled me into his warm embrace and just held me until I cried myself to sleep in his arms.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up half-asleep to feel arms wrapping around my neck and under my legs. Zen picked me up and carefully carried me over to his bed, laid me down and covered me with the duvet. He started to leave when I grabbed onto his hand weakly. He looked back at me and smiled. He climbed over to the other side of the bed and laid next me, not touching me, but holding onto my hand.

“Alright, but don’t tempt me further, princess…” He whispered, with a slight strain to his voice.

When I woke up I found my head resting on Zen’s chest, his arm loosely wrapped around my waist. I knew being this close in his bedroom would make him uncomfortable and embarrassed, but I felt safe and secure.

I wanted to greedy.

I leaned back to see my phone on the bedside table so I picked it up to check my messages. I had 30 missed calls from Saeyoung, 3 from the unknown number and one from Jumin around 10 minutes ago. Perhaps that had woken me up so early, along with the sound of birds. Zen lived very close to a large park, so birds liked to hang out on his balcony when they weren’t in the trees. I wonder why he had called me so early in the morning… I hope nothing bad has happened.

I got a text from Yoosung, which made me jump slightly.

Kim, Yoosung: Hey MC, do you want to go to E-STAR with me this year in November? We can finally try out the oculus drift!

MC: Maybe

Kim, Yoosung: I’ll get tickets anyway, I can always ask one my friends from my role-play group if you’re busy

MC: Sounds good, thank you

I giggled quietly, putting my phone down when Zen mumbled sleepily and pull me on top of him, holding onto me tightly like a teddy bear. I rested my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. I’ll pretend I tried to break free later… I thought whilst closing my eyes again.

A few moments later Zen’s phone rang loudly, rousing him from his sleep almost immediately. I pretended to be asleep and tried to hide my devious joy when hearing him yelp in embarrassment when he realised he had been holding me. He carefully rolled me off of him and quickly scrambled off the bed to get his phone from the Livingroom. I slowly rolled off the bed, stood up and stretched, feeling well rested for once.

I walked into the room where Zen was. His face was still pink. I giggled to myself and proceeded to make us breakfast whilst he was busy since I knew where he kept all his things. Zen finished his call quickly and sat down on one of the stools behind the counters.

“Are you making strawberry pancakes?”

“Yep!” I said happily.

“Isn’t that the only thing that the trust fund kid can cook?” He asked, pulling a weird face. I laughed softly.

“He can cook other things too… Plus, I like them!” I smiled at him.

“They smell good at least.” He whispered, blushing slightly.

I served the pancakes and he ate them on their own, whilst I slathered them in whipped cream.

“They’re good.” He said, smiling sweetly.

“Mmm, I know.” I said, enjoying my meal.

“I’m surprised you can taste anything but cream.” He smiled, teasingly.

“Who doesn’t enjoy some good cream.” I replied coyly, he turned away, blushing a little and I giggled.

“Don’t say things like that MC.” Zen said awkwardly. I paused for a moment and then sighed, knowing I needed to address what happened. I knew if I didn’t I’d feel guilty all day.

“Hyun… I’m sorry for taking advantage of your hospitality. I know you wanted to cool things off between us.”

“Don’t worry too much about it. I shouldn’t have suggested we be closer than just best friends anyway, I felt like I was taking advantage of you.” He laughed softly.

“I guess we’re both just terrible friends.” I said sarcastically, laughing.

“Yeah, let’s agree to just be lifelong movie buddies.”

“What about Jaehee?” I say, pretending to be shocked. He bristled and blushed lightly.

“She’s… too busy watching my plays…” He stuttered, embarrassed. I smiled coyly at him and he cleared his throat, putting on his confident actor mask.

“Oh… and after this delicious meal, are you alright to go home? I need to head off soon, the director called and we need to be in earlier than expected so I’ll have to get ready quickly.” He sighed, acting natural, but a slight pink tinge to his cheeks betraying his true feelings. I’ll play along, I don’t want to tease him too much if he’s busy.

“It’s alright, I need to change my clothes anyway.” I said, remembering I’d been wearing the same clothes for two days now.

Zen quickly finished his food and went to go shower whilst I washed the dishes. When I was done, I called out to Zen to say I was leaving. He poked his head out of the bathroom door and said goodbye to me.

“MC.” He said, before I reached the door. I turned around to look at him. “Remember you can talk to me whenever you need to, no strings attached.”

“I know… thank you for your time, Hyun.” I replied, smiling to show my appreciation before I headed out of the door. I didn’t want to bother Jumin, so I headed for the nearest subway station, enjoying the quiet walk through the park.

When I got to the subway, it was extremely busy with everyone making their way to work or school. A few people looked disgusted at me due to my slight unkempt and shabby appearance but I ignored them for the most part, except for one man. He sat across from me and stared at me for the whole journey. He was making me feel uncomfortable, but no one seemed to notice, or at least they pretended to be oblivious.

He was wearing a suit, but it looked well worn, like it was pre-owned or very old. He wasn’t carrying a briefcase or wearing a tie. It was a half-arsed disguise, which made me worry. I waited until the last second to get off at my stop and managed to rush out just as the doors were closing. The man tried to run out after me, but ran straight into the doors. He looked furious, and slammed his hands against the glass like he was trying to force his way out.

I turned and quickly made my way out of the subway. I didn’t want to hang around here, just to be safe. I made my way back to my apartment and paused when I was in the vicinity, checking for any suspicious behaviour. It seemed to be clear, so I made my way inside, heading up to my floor in the lift. I hesitated when I reached my door, slowly reaching for the handle. It was already unlocked.

I slowly pushed the door open and found my place to be a complete mess. It had been ransacked, with no clear signs of forced entry that I could see from the entryway. I slowly backed away and called Vanderwood. It went straight to the machine, so I quickly called Jumin instead. I closed the door softly and quickly turned around to make my way back outside in case anyone was still around. Thankfully, he answered quickly.

“MC, I have been-”

“They’ve found me.” I said quickly, interrupting him.

“The apartment has been compromised?” He asked as I pushed the button for the lift. It had already gone back down to the ground floor.

“Yes, it’s a complete mess.”

“Get out of their and quickly, I’m heading over right away. Just keep walking, I will find you and stay on the phone.” He said, concerned.

“Okay I will.” I replied, still waiting for the lift, bouncing on the spot. When the door opened, the man from the train was stood inside, already reaching out for me. Like he already knew I was there.

I quickly jumped back, just missing his grasp and ran towards the stairs. Jumin sensed the change in the atmosphere.

“MC, are you alright?”

“They’re here!” I shouted, bursting through the door to the stairwell, the man following closely behind me, clearly well trained at tracking targets.

“MC, keep moving, I will be there soon.” Jumin sounded stressed, likely because he couldn’t do anything to help me.

We both bounded down the stairs, my knees aching from having to basically jump down them due to the longer stride of the man. I reached the bottom and slammed into the door, knowing it was heavy, and it smacked heavily against the man, catching him off guard for a moment. My arm burned, but I kept running. I made it out of the building and started to run down the street, but the man was already starting to catch up to me.

The area outside of my building was eerily quiet and empty, but I kept moving.

I ran past an alleyway and felt something stick onto me for a moment before being subjected to the feeling of intense pain from being shocked by a taser. I went down like a tonne of bricks, but just managed to break my fall on my arms. My phone smashed against the concrete. I felt myself fading away, falling unconscious, holding on to a single thought.

They wanted me alive.


	6. Day Seven: Hostage Hotel

I woke up, bleary eyed, in pain. I still hadn’t recovered from the shock of the taser and my arms felt like they were on fire, which was made worse by the fact my arms were tied behind my back. I felt dizzy and my limbs felt heavy, I had been drugged too.

The room was dimly lit, presumably by a lamp behind me somewhere. I couldn’t see my attacker from here and the room was quiet. I slowly rolled onto my other side to find the room empty. I appeared to be in a run-down hotel room, the moon shining through the half-open grotty blinds. I was likely far from the city by now. I slowly rolled to sit up on the bed. Thankfully, my ankles hadn’t been tied together as well, I liked being underestimated. I got up stumbled over to the window. The city lights were far away, but still visible. We were only the top floor, so I couldn’t exactly drop out of the window.

I made my way over to the door, slowly pushing down the handle so I would not alert anyone else in the building. It wasn’t locked. I crept out of the door, keeping low, moving carefully down the hallway. I peeked around the corner and saw some fairly sophisticated surveillance cameras. Must be a Mint Eye safe house. Luckily, the camera was set to move from one side to the other, so I waited for the camera to pan away from me and quickly made my way down the other hallway.

I saw an unmanned security room and took a peek inside to see if I had a clear passage out of the building, but I wish I hadn’t looked. The screens in this room were only filled up with camera footage observing the other prisoners. Some were badly beaten, some were tied up with their arms being pulled up towards the ceiling and looked like they had been whipped for hours, wounds still fresh.

Some women were tied up against bed frames, naked. I knew what had happened to them based on Saeran’s inane rambling. I hadn’t believed it at the time, but this seemed to confirm it. He had said that disobedient or resistant women were more often ‘broken’ by rape and sexual assault to make them conform. However, depending on who was in charge of the prisoners the time, the women were ‘passed around’ to reward men for completing tasks. Rika had disproved of this initially, but had turned a blind eye to it after the men under her command had convinced her of its effectiveness for saving the souls of ‘unruly women’ by giving them a ‘purpose’. She apparently starting abusing people herself eventually, slowly becoming more sadistic. Saeran didn’t say who exactly, but I suspected she had done things to him.

I tore my eyes away from the screen and peeked back out into the hallway. No-one seemed to be walking around so I headed back out. I hoped I could save some of the people here. I made it to staircase and slowly crept downstairs, hugging the wall so I didn’t overbalance and fall over. I could hear someone talking loudly, like on a speaker system.

I managed to get down to the ground floor, my body aching, my legs shaking from the strain. The talking was much louder now, and it sounded like people were chanting after them. I crept along the hallway and saw a phone against the wall. I picked it up carefully and held it to my ear. It was still connected to the landline, so I called Jumin’s number, one of the only ones I could remember off by heart. I heard him answer.

“Track me.” I said clearly, but quietly, leaving the phone off the hook and placing it on the table. I didn’t have time to have a conversation with Jumin. Hopefully he could quickly track the call with his resources.

I kept moving towards where I thought the exit might be and reached the wide-open doors leading to the large meeting hall. Around 30 or 40 people wearing ceremonial robes appeared to be inside the hall, reciting some fucked up version of their own personal bible. There were also 10 guards sat down as well. Everyone must have to take part. There was a large mural of Rika hanging behind the woman chanting. She was an older woman and seemed to command the attention of the whole room.

I slowly slid past the door, my body finally giving out as I collapsed against the wall on the other side. I didn’t make a loud enough noise tom cause alarm, but I would soon be discovered anyway. I tried to pull at the bindings on my wrists, but they were tied by an adept pair of hands and I didn’t have anything on me weaken the ropes.  
I could hear sirens in the distance, slowly getting closer. When they got louder, the people in the hall started to voice their concerns. The woman told them to secure the prisoners, so I was not the only one here after all. I pulled in my legs tight to my chest and tried to move as far behind the door as possible, hoping they wouldn’t notice me right away.

The guards ran in the opposite direction from me, the way I had come down. I heard a door open from within the hall and people walking away, being led by the woman. I slowly forced myself to stand up, using to door for support. I peeked around the corner to see the congregation walking out of the back entrance. I slowly walked in the other direction, leaning against the wall. I could hear shouting and screaming from upstairs. I tried to quicken my pace when I heard a gunshot.

I jumped in surprise, falling over and landing heavily on my shoulder on the floor. I cried out in pain and tried to wiggle my way around the corner, rubbing my newly injured shoulder on the ground. I heard people running, so I scrunched my legs up to hide them from view. I could hear the muffled cries of the other hostages. The sirens were right outside now and the guards cursed, rushing to get people outside. I heard a door burst open ahead of me and people rushing in.

“MC!”

I looked up and saw Jumin running over to me, wrapping his arms around me and helping me to sit up.

“Keep going! Follow Stark.” He commanded, the police/private security team rushing ahead. He cut the bindings that held my hands together and I sighed in relief. I heard gunshots towards the direction of the hall and Jumin cursed under his breath, picking me up and carrying me towards the door. I felt the cold air hit my face as he rushed outside. Someone opened a car door and Jumin laid me down on the seats gently, before rushing to the other side and getting inside with me. I tried to get up, but my arm buckled underneath me.

“Rest.” Jumin commanded gently, placing his hand on my head, stroking my hair. “I think you are likely under the influence of drugs… Driver Kim, take us to my private hospital wing.” I felt the car slowly pull away.

“You have your own wing?” I slurred. Jumin laughed at me sympathetically and I groaned.

“You are so stubborn. You cannot rest for just one moment, can you?” He asked rhetorically.

I crawled forward and rested my head on Jumin’s lap. I looked up at him with the corner of my eye and saw him looking out of the window with his hand covering his face slightly. I smiled, feeling victorious and snuggled my face into his stomach, drifting off to sleep.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I woke up I was in a dimly lit room. I was in one of Jumin’s hospital suites overlooking the city, it was late so only the lamp in the corner was turned on. I felt something twitch against my hand and turned to my left to see Jumin sat in a chair next to me asleep, he’d been holding onto my hand. He probably hadn’t slept since I’d gone missing, however long ago that was. Everything felt much clearer. I guess Jumin had been right, I was drugged. He must have already known it wasn’t dangerous, nothing as serious as what they had used on Saeran.

I stretched and swung my feet over the side, slowly standing up. My legs didn’t feel like jelly anymore, but it was still hard to walk. I put my hand on the glass window and looked outside. Everything going on as normal, little did they know the true darkness lingering in the shadows. They’ll have heard about it on the news and the fundraisers, but no-one would believe it could happen to them. It’s always the next guy.

I felt warmth against my back and looked up to see Jumin’s face reflected in the window. He stood behind me, just leaning his weight against me ever so slightly, not actually touching me. Our eyes met and we stared at each other.

“How did you find me so quickly?” I asked. Jumin cleared his throat.

“When I told Seven and his brother you were missing, Saeran went through what he remembered of the building specifications for operations when he was a member. We narrowed it down to a few buildings on the outskirts of the city. We were standing by in several locations, so when you called us, it was much easier to find you. Stark and I happened to be the closest to your location.”

“He told you about the drugs too?”

“Yes. If they were keeping you hostage, the drugs would be aimed at keeping you sleepy and sedate. Your poisoning resistance training may have helped you to walk away when the effects started to wear off.” I would have to thank Vanderwood for that. “The hallucinogenic and manipulation based concoctions can only be given on site in one of their secure locations. Unfortunately, all of the places known to Saeran have been eliminated.”  
“I heard… gunshots, Jumin. What happened to everyone else?”

“I do not know the full details as my priority was to protect you, but the hostages were escorted away whilst the guards shot at my team, holding them back. The uncooperative hostages… were shot, so their secrets would never get out.” Jumin placed his hand on top of my own on the window.  
“Did you really think you could escape on your own?” He asked me, vacantly.

“Jumin…” I whispered. He leaned forward and rested his head on top of mine, his eyes burning into my own in the reflection of the glass. “They captured me alive… made sure I wasn’t harmed more than necessary… I thought they wouldn’t kill me, they needed me for… something.” I stammered, trying to convince myself it was fine. While they would have taken me away again, it was foolish to try and walk out of there, no matter what I believed my odds were.

“Judging by your face, I see that you don’t need me to lecture you on your stupidity.” I knew the consequences of my actions, but it still pained me to hear it from him. Jumin was brutal at the best of times, always thinking he was right. Unfortunately, he always seemed to be correct, the world itself working to inflate his iron-clad logic and ego.

I turned to face him.

“Yet, you rushed in after me, on the front line no less! Shouldn’t your team have gone in first to secure the perimeter?” I lectured him back on his sloppy practice. I knew why he had done it that way, but it was stupid nonetheless. “You’re a high priority target, Jumin; leagues above a nobody like me. You shouldn’t have even been there.” I grumbled.

“You are not a nobody to me.” He said flatly, holding my face in his hands, making me look at him. “I will always put myself in danger if I can save you.” He whispered softly.

He leaned down and I rose up on my tip toes and kissed him softly and slowly. Jumin tangled his fingers in my hair and tipped my head back slightly to make it easier for him to reach me with his towering stature. I held onto him by his shirt, noticing he was still in his work attire. He wrapped his other arm around my slower back, brushing his fingers down my back on his way. I moaned into his mouth and he pulled away from me, catching his breath.

“You are truly a dangerous and formidable woman, MC.”


	7. Day Eight: The Warehouse

“You are truly a dangerous and formidable woman, MC.” He whispered, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “You’d best get some rest.” I understood why Jumin kept his distance from me, I was technically still attached to Saeyoung, seeing as how we never officially broke up and Jumin is very much into formality. He likely didn’t want to start off with someone else’s feelings within the mix, and I can understand his point.

While Zen felt some guilt towards Saeyoung, Jumin was too angry, and felt like Saeyoung abandoned us when we needed him the most. He felt that his distance and silence was as good of a resignation as any. Resigned from both the RFA and from me. Though I feel like my relationship with Zen is more like an accidental fling with a close friend than anything too serious, whereas Jumin was intense, even if we were just sitting at opposite ends of the room from each other.

“I suppose so…” I replied, feeling drained. I slowly laid down on the bed, grabbing Jumin’s hand on my way, pulling him towards me gently. “Can I leave yet?”

“You should be able to leave in the morning. The doctor wanted to make sure the drugs were out of your system first and that you were not suffering from the after effects.” I looked down at my arms. They looked bruised and had been scrapped up from the fall, but nothing had been broken at least.

“Why did they want me?” I asked.

“I think they might be targeting the members of the RFA since we were the ones that sent Rika away. Perhaps they are looking for her?”

“Wouldn’t they go after you though? You’re the most valuable person.”

“They can likely see that I am always protected, whereas the rest of you are not. You live further away from the rest of us, so they might have found it easier to isolate you. Though I am concerned, based upon all the threats being made towards you personally. I feel like you have a special interest to them, for an unknown reason.”

“Jumin… have you heard from Yoosung recently?” I asked, worried. While Jumin was so focused on me, he hadn’t realised that his own assessment could easily be levelled at Yoosung as well. He lived away from us, on his own besides his cat, and was away from Jumin’s influence in terms of security.

“I do not have much contact with Yoosung in general, although I have not seen him logged into the chat since you went missing… in fact, I do not think he even knows you were kidnapped.”

“What if they took him too? He knows where Rika is… and I hate saying this but… he loves her so much. Do you think he could be manipulated to rescue her?”

“It is possible…” He said, pulling out his phone and selecting a number. It went straight to voicemail, so he tried another one. They answered quickly.

“Stark, do you know where Yoosung is? I see… MC thinks they might have targeted him due to his connection to Rika. I have not heard from him recently, and he has not answered my calls. Okay, let me know what they find.” He said, hanging up the phone quickly.

“Saeyoung is going to look into it, apparently. It does not sound promising, however.”

“How do you mean?”

“Stark looked at his work record; He did not sign in the same morning you were taken and he has not attended any of his work shifts since.”

“How did no-one notice he was gone?”

“Everyone is busy right now and we were all working hard on finding you. Honestly, I do feel guilty for not noticing his absence but I have not been using the app for the past few days to check on everyone else. Jaehee was busy with my work and Zen is really busy filming for the next few weeks. Yoosung has been a lot quieter in the chat since he is working now and not avoiding his studies. I suppose it was a prime opportunity for someone to fall through the cracks…” Jumin trailed off and stared out of the window. I felt bad about bringing it up. I didn’t want to upset Jumin or question his leadership, he was already too hard on himself as it is, he didn’t need me to add to it.

I was released from the hospital that morning. Jumin apologised, but said he needed to rush off to work, needing to catch up on the work he had missed. Jaehee had taken over for him for the few days whilst I had been missing; I’m sure she wasn’t impressed when Jumin just left her to it. Jumin had brought me some nice clean clothes to wear at least and my jacket with the hidden gun holster.

Vanderwood had requested my presence at the warehouse he was currently working in. The whole team were there, including Saeyoung and Saeran. We agreed to meet privately though, so hopefully I could avoid both of them. Jumin had sent a car for me and had assigned them to me for the foreseeable future so I could avoid the subway.

Vanderwood’s warehouse was on the edge of the city, similarly to Saeyoung’s bunker. The driver dropped me off and parked around the side of the building as instructed by Vanderwood. Apparently, the organisation both him and Saeyoung worked for were still actively looking for them, with a high bounty placed upon them. Vanderwood chose to stay in the shadows, whereas Saeyoung seemed to recklessly believe they wouldn’t find him in plain sight, though while caring for Saeran, he hadn’t been outside much anyway except for relocating to a new bunker just in case. Still, no-one had broken into the old one, as of yet anyway.

I went around the back and swiped my new assess card in the card reader. This should lead me almost directly to Vanderwood’s office, hopefully avoiding everyone else. I made my to his office without incident. He was already inside waiting for me. He motioned for me to sit down across from him so I complied.

“How are you?” I asked.

“I’m fine, all things considered, just busy… so busy.” He sighed. “The twins are good at what they do, but getting them up to speed and explaining everything is extremely tedious. Saeran especially since he’s basically new and isn’t as experienced as Saeyoung. Saeyoung is teaching him, reluctantly. I think he hoped that Saeran could live normally.”

“Sounds like a lot of emotional baggage for you to deal with, that’s usually my job.” I said, smiling.

“Ugh, I don’t know how you handle it. I would spill all my secrets to the organisation just to stop hearing them complaining and bickering. They talk about you a lot…”

“Ugh, please don’t Stark.”

“Come on, MC. If you get it over with I can finally have some peace.”

“I’ll… think about it. So, what do you need? Besides emotional support.”

“A few things… I’ve had the twins dig up a lot of information about your family, I wanted you to go through it and see if anything stood out to you. Any strange connections, no matter how insignificant they may be. We have a lot of stuff, but when you went missing we didn’t have time to read any of it in much detail. I wanted you to come here specifically so I could give you the hard drive, the others are too busy to make deliveries. That reminds me, did you change your name when you left home?”

“Yes.” I replied curtly.

“I thought as much; your family filed a missing person’s report under your old name a year or so ago, when Mint Eye is thought to have been recruiting the bulk of its original investors.”

“I don’t like this…” I sighed. “The only reason I could think of for my father to support them is to use their creepy assassin service for a power grab, but it doesn’t explain why they want to capture me.”

“I guess we’ll have to see… Since Yoosung is missing, I’ve been trying to arrange for Rika to be transferred to a new facility, I’d like you and Jumin to escort her.”

“You found out where she was?”

“It took a while to convince Zen to tell me that she’d been sent to Alaska, and Yoosung doesn’t exactly have the ability to hide her identity.”

“Alaska!? Wouldn’t it be easier to just leave her there? Would Mint Eye really go that far?”

“They have the means to do so. All it would take would be for Yoosung to go over there and collect her, as he is her only contact now.”

“Then how do we get her out?”

“You’ll be disguised as the transferring crew. We want to bring her back here and hide her in a private facility closer to us since we can protect her better than in some far-off location.”

“Okay... but why me and Jumin?”

“Jumin, is a friendly face, and you are his back-up. You work the best with him, so it’s easier if you go together. I am hoping that seeing Jumin again won’t set her off as much as seeing anyone else here and she’s likely to be medicated to some capacity to make it easier to transfer someone such a long distance, so hopefully she won’t be much trouble. You can’t have any on-site back-up unfortunately, only two people usually undertake transfers. I might be able to have a few agents hanging around, but as you know, our resources are stretched thin.”

“When is this happening?”

“The transfer procedure is apparently a complicated process, I want to do it as normally as possible so it doesn’t send off any red flags.”

“Can they not just hack into the system as see the transfer plans?”

“I managed to convince them to not officialise the transfer on file until the day it’s happening, which should give you enough time to get a head start. I’ve also made a masking glitch so the image on the page just stays the same, like repeating camera footage. They could notice it straight away though. Saeran says that with the funds they’ve amassed since he left they could have hired several competent hackers, which explains how they could access so many accounts and infiltrate companies. Though he thinks there’ll be a mix of blackmailed followers and loyal followers within the companies. Seems as though anyone can be convinced once they’ve pumped enough drugs into them. We’ll sort out the details closer to the time.”

“Alright, anything else I need to know?”

“If… anything goes wrong, it might be necessary to kill Rika.”

“What! Why?”

“It is unclear why they want her back, other than just her standing as the ‘saviour’. She may know something important, something they want. We can’t let them take her back just in case. This information could change everything.”

“I think you’re being overly precautious…”

“They have weapons, money; power and influence. Who knows what amount of blackmail she has, passwords, codes. Saeran said they had been hacking into multiple accounts and private documents before she focussed her attention on the RFA. We found nothing back at the base, like she kept it all somewhere else.”  
“Is that why they raided the apartment?”

“It’s a possibility, they may have suspected that she could have kept it there but we removed all the documents when we redecorated.” He sighed. “I just wanted to make sure you know how important this is. It’s likely the most dangerous mission I’ve sent you on. I don’t trust everyone in our group with something so important, Saeran is unpredictable and will likely arouse a response from Rika. Saeyoung isn’t ready to be in the field right now, I don’t think he could just leave his brother and I don’t want to have to look after him. The others are basically newbies compared to you; you were the first person I trained outside of the organisation. So… will you do it?”

“Have you asked Jumin about this?”

“Of course not, he’d never allow it. Despite his cool and cold demeanour, he still cares about Rika, especially now V is gone. Do you not remember how angry he was at Yoosung for hiding her in the first place?” He looked into my eyes. “Nevertheless, you and everyone else here knows it’s for the best.” I didn’t say anything. It felt wrong to kill Rika, but I couldn’t deny her importance to the cult.

“I’ll… take it into consideration.”

“I suppose that’s good enough, for now. Here.” He said, holding out a Daewoo Precision Industries K5 pistol, a hint of disappointment marred his expression.

“Aw, no fancy imports this time?” I said, pouting. I took the pistol and secured it into my jacket.

“It’s easier to get hold of these.” He laughed. “You may leave now if you wish, you have a lot of work to do” He said, now holding out the drive to me. I took it, a cold feeling of dread washing over me. I slowly left the room and walked out of the back entrance, feeling slightly overwhelmed.

I saw someone standing outside, smoking a cigarette.

“Nice of you to drop by, MC. Don’t you want to say hello?” He sneered, blowing out smoke.

“Smoking’s bad for you.” I said, walking away from him, but he grabbed onto my wrist.

“Don’t just walk away from me.” He whispered pleadingly, startling me. I stopped walking, but did not turn to face him. “I know all the things I’ve done to you, and I’m sorry. I’m ashamed of myself… for all the things I’ve done. But, I love you, MC. I need you.” He whimpered, holding onto my wrist tighter.

“It’s… not that easy, Saeran.” I whispered, slowly.

“I know.” He squeaked. I turned my face towards him to see him silently balling his eyes out, his other hand attempting to hide his face. “I… m-meant what I said. I chose you because I w-wanted you… to be mine, forever. It hurts to be apart from you. I-I try to hold myself back, but…” I thought back to the bunker, Saeran looking embarrassed at seeing me naked, turning away, clenching his fists. Holding himself back from touching me without my permission… but I couldn’t just excuse it, could I?

“Saeran…” I whispered. “I don’t… know what to say.” He gently let go of my wrist.

“Just think about it… okay? I don’t care if you like the rich kid, the poncey actor, or even my brother. I’ll share you if I have to.” He threw his still lit cigarette on the ground, quickly swiped his card and pushed his way back into the warehouse.

I stood looking at the door for a few seconds before making my way back to the car.

How does he know everything?


	8. Day Eight: Familial Ties

I sat in the car for a while in silence, before the driver broke me out of my state.

“Can I take you anywhere, my lady?” He asked, politely.

“Just, give me a second. I need to make a call.”

I called Jumin. I wasn’t sure where I could go. The apartment was compromised, I didn’t want to invite myself to someone else’s house and the only officially secured computer at C&R by Vanderwood was Jumin’s and I imagined he was busy catching up on all the work he had dumped onto Jaehee.

“MC?” Jumin asked.

“Hello Jumin… I was just wondering, is there anywhere I can go to work or… live?” I asked, laughing a little. He sighed.

“I apologise MC, I… forgot to arrange somewhere for you to live permanently.”

“Was it so hard to admit that you forgot something?”

“I do not know what you are implying.” I chuckled and he sighed. “Anyway, I know you dislike the warehouse, so for the time being, it may be best if you stay at my penthouse in my spare room. I already have all of your recovered possessions there and I know you will be protected there.”

“Thank you, Jumin. I know you don’t really approve of me being there.” Jumin didn’t think unmarried women should live with men, likely due to his general distrust of women.

“You have stayed with me before.”

“I know, but still…” I said, feeling awkward. He sighed.

“I thought it would be obvious, but I have changed my mind. Perhaps I was too quick to judge others when I had not had the experience myself.”

“Oh, really? You’re basically a changed man Jumin.” I said, giggling. I could hear him grumbling on the phone. “Aww, I’m just kidding. Am I okay to come over now?”

“Yes, I will meet you there so I can make arrangements.” He said quickly, hanging up before I could protest. I only saw just saw Jumin a few hours ago, he really didn’t need to waste his time meeting me. I sighed.

“Mr Han’s penthouse, please.” I said to the driver. He nodded to me in the mirror and started driving immediately.

When I arrived at Jumin’s building he was already talking to his private security. He turned to see and smiled softly.

“Ah, MC, come with me.” He said gesturing to the lift. He was being very formal, despite how often I had come over before now. We entered together. “I’ve told my security to consider you a personal guest. They should supply you with whatever you need. I’ve told them to be strictly confidential about your presence, for your benefit and my own.”

“I see…” I said trailing off. Jumin had his reputation and I had my own safety to think about. Beyond the watchful Mint Eye, it would be bad if someone decided to dig into my past and alert my family of my existence. We still do not know why they want to find me, hopefully the drive will be the key.

“Jumin, do you really want to go on a job with me?” I asked, hesitantly.

“It would not be my first choice, but Stark's logic makes sense. Rika should know me to be trustworthy and I have combat training. The only thing that worries me are her psychiatric reports.”

“You read those? How? I thought you didn’t know where she was?” I asked, confused.

“I do not. Yoosung receives them, location data expunged, just in case. However, he does not have a good password.” I gave him a look and he sighed, clearly feeling guilty. “I know I should not do so, but I feel like I owe it to V, despite everything, to keep an eye on her. Anyway, as I was saying, Rika is described as distant. She often just sits staring out of the window and does contribute to much conversation with staff or peers. They even tried to decrease her dosage, thinking they were overmedicating her but it made little difference. She only shines when the facility takes part in baking or cooking activities for charity.” I smiled sadly at that.

I didn’t think of Rika as a bad person, she genuinely thought she was going to help everyone, save the world. Her untreated illness spiralling out of control and twisting her ideals to become much darker than intended. I hoped she would get better, but I might have the responsibility of ending everything for her. I wanted to confide in Jumin, but I was terrified of the consequences.

Stark, or Vanderwood as I usually referred to him due to forgetfulness, was dear to me and I didn’t want to break his trust. He was elusive, but I didn’t doubt that he would feel guilty for his orders; you could get a glimpse of his kind heart every so often. He taught me everything I know, so we had become fairly close, or as least as close as you can be with Vanderwood.  And yes, it might be contradictory to say that when I frequently forgot he had changed his name, but everyone else kept forgetting as well, except for Jumin, so it kept confusing everyone involved.  Thankfully, I did usually remember when I was actually speaking to him.

After Saeyoung started ignoring everyone and all this cult business started coming back, Jumin reached out and recruited Vanderwood with the promise of safety. We were missing a hacker and Vanderwood was in as much trouble with his previous employers as Saeyoung, Saeran and I, so it seemed like the perfect partnership. However, this meant that at the time, he was basically working on his own to solve everything. His work started as a slow process, but then I figured that I wasn’t doing anything, was tired of waiting and wanted to do something more useful than arrange parties every three months, so I got in contact with him.

I managed to convince Vanderwood to train me in some way to help him and since I supposedly have ‘the gift of the gab’, he thought the role that would be the best for me was an infiltrator. Getting close to people in the cults and convincing them to reveal all their secrets and plans. Turns out I was good at it, like he thought. I was grateful that whilst he may not have believed in me, he still gave me a chance to prove myself. I was also a pretty good shot, even without much training, which may have helped my case more than I liked to admit.

Although, being ordered around by Vanderwood in this instance made me uncomfortable, since Jumin was technically in charge of this operation. I believed he only asked me to think about killing Rika because he knew Jumin would never consider it an option. Whilst Jumin is a very practical man, he still has a soft spot for V and Rika. He still wouldn’t really talk about them.

We reached the floor of the penthouse and Jumin showed me in, staying far away from me. Elizabeth ran in to greet me, with Lisa coming in hesitantly behind her. I guess Jumin is looking after Yoosung’s cat whilst he’s gone, likely to the distaste of Elizabeth. Jumin stood over at the window, ignoring all of us.

“Jumin, is something wrong?” He turned to me, strangely startled and he cleared his throat.

“I am fine, MC. I just have a lot to do today.”

“You didn’t have to come here, Jumin. I know how to get into your Penthouse.” Jumin sighed, exacerbated.

“I do not mean to say that it is your fault, I am simply overwhelmed. While Jaehee is good at her job, she is not me.”

“I don’t think anyone is more of a workaholic than you.”

“My father introduced me to another eligible woman whilst I was trying to find you.” He said quickly. “He keeps calling me to arrange an official meeting with her. He talks about my age like I’m going to turn to dust by morning.” I giggled softly, stoking Elizabeth’s fur softly.

“Is she that bad?” I asked.

“I do not know, but she was wearing a dead animal on her shoulders so I do not care to speak with her further.”

“She wore a fur coat to a casual meeting?”

“She was dressed like wanted to be able to marry me then and there.” He said, shuddering. I laughed.

“I wish I had seen that.”

“I do not think your presence would have been much appreciated.” He laughed softly to himself.

“Then… why won’t you look at me?” He sighed deeply, and thought to himself for a few seconds.

“I keep wondering about your… intentions towards me. Emotions do not come easily to me and I am not sure how to interact with you. We’re going to be living together until I can arrange somewhere secure for you to stay, yet I do not want to send you away either.” I slowly walked over to him and rested my forehead against his back, I felt him stiffen.

“I… don’t want to cause problems for you. My relationships are complicated, I doubt you want to be involved in that. Your father causes you enough problems as it is, you-”

“It is not the same thing MC. You are not interested in my money or position.”

“The press could dig into my past. My family could reveal my true identity. They might follow me around. I already come here too often as it is.” Jumin turned around and wrapped his arms around my back, holding me tightly.

“Perhaps I am more like my father than I care to admit.” He whispered.

“J-Jumin.” I whispered, looking up at him. “I think we need to talk about this before you do something reckless.” Jumin made a grumbling noise and held the side of my face with one of his hands.

“I tire of being cautious.” He whispered.  
   
“I tire of being cautious.” He whispered. “It has never brought me anything but pain, despite the intention to avoid pain, to myself and others.” He ran his fingers gently down my jawline to my chin. It took me by surprise, causing me to shudder and he chuckled deeply.

“J-Jumin…” I said, swallowing. “Don’t you… have things to do?” I asked, my voice trembling slightly.

I’d never seen Jumin so intense. It was true that he hid his emotions very well, but it felt like I was breaking down his walls and now I feared that the flood of emotions would drown me. I wanted to know the true fire that Jumin kept deep within his heart, but I didn’t want to get burned. He looked into my eyes, his expression blank.

“I can think of only one thing I am interested in.” He whispered before he leaned down to kiss me, running his hand through my hair and resting on the side of my head, his fingers knotting in my hair.

My hands were pressed against his chest, so I grabbed onto the upper part of his shirt and pulled him closer towards me, tipping my head back and returning his kisses. Suddenly I felt a cool sensation against my back and I realised Jumin was pressing me against the large windows. His other hand trailed down my side and rested on my hip, trying to pull me closer to his body. I broke away for a second to catch my breath, but Jumin crashed his lips back against mine almost immediately. He gently squeezed my hip, causing me to gasp, allowing his tongue access to the inside of my mouth, deepening the kiss. His tongue brushed against mine and we began exploring each other, fighting for control. I could feel his hardness pressing against the front of my hip and I moaned into his mouth. He ran his hand up my side underneath my jacket, his hand brushed against my gun.

Jumin unexpectedly broke off the kiss, panting heavily. He was still holding onto me tightly, my face pressed into his chest. His heartbeat was racing. I couldn’t see his face. I took the opportunity to catch my breath as well.

“Jumin?” I asked, breathlessly. I felt him flinch slightly.

“Do not say my name… like that.” He warned, clearing his throat. “I do not want to lose control so early into our cohabitation.”

“I’m sorry...” I said, trailing off.

“It is not your fault; I want you.” He said, with an intense gaze. It felt like I was frozen in place, when Elizabeth rubbed her body against the back of my legs and brought me back to reality.

“So-” I began, but Jumin cut me off.

“Why do you have a gun?” He asked quickly, suspicious of me. I blanked for a second but replied.

“I went to see Stark. He gave one to me.”

“Is that really necessary? We are not going on the trip until…” He trailed off, looking at the clock on the wall, his face twisting into annoyance. “I must go now.” He said quickly, letting go of me and moving away slightly.

“Uhh, Jumin, you might want to…” I stumbled over my words, gesturing towards him. He looked puzzled and then caught his reflection in the mirror. His lips were a deep red, his hair and shirt were ruffled, his shirt buttons undone and his tie was in major disarray. He looked like he’d slept in his suit and then fell into a bush. He blushed deep red and quickly walked over to the bathroom to freshen up.

I sank down onto the settee, both cats immediately jumping up with me; competing to sit in my lap at the same time. It seems they got on better now that Lisa wasn’t a small kitten anymore. I slouched into the settee, feeling a bit drained. I had a lot of things to do but cat therapy felt pretty good right now.

Hopefully Jumin didn’t grill me about the gun later. Whilst it wasn’t unusual for me to have one, with Jumin’s security team, it was unnecessary for me to have one on my person as well, seeing how stretched thin our resources were right now.

Vanderwood put a lot of effort into sourcing guns discreetly for our personal use, so he hasn’t had a lot of time to ‘stock up’. Jumin’s security force have their own weapons, but it could be difficult to get weapons for mine and Vanderwood’s team without anyone knowing about it. This was likely an easily traceable gun in the event that I had to kill Rika and Vanderwood wanted to be subtle about giving it to me.

Vanderwood must have some sort of play, wanting it to look like someone in particular had a hand in the murder. He had done this once or twice before when handling high profile targets, just in case I did have to fire and abandon my gun, it could be beneficial to set someone up for the incident by tracing the ownership than for it to be unknown. I wasn’t sure who he had in mind, since guns were fairly scarce in South Korea, but it was likely to be one of the companies we knew were involved with Mint Eye. Although, Vanderwood would usually explain the ins and outs of this to me, so he must not want me to know for some reason. It made me a little concerned, but I trusted his judgement.

I stroked the cats for a while, when Jumin flew out of the bathroom straight past me. Then he snapped back, remembering I was there. He stared at me and the cat pile.

“C-Cute…” He mumbled, clearing his throat. “I… will be leaving now. Feel free to do as you please, I will contact you later and we can do something for dinner.” I nodded towards him.

“Sounds good, I’ll be waiting for you.” I said, smiling. He cleared his throat again, looking away from me, and then quickly strode out of the room.

I heard the front door close. The cats curled up together next to me, so I picked up the hard drive and made my way into Jumin’s small office. He did most of his work at the office, so only had a small study that was mostly filled with tall bookshelves.

There was a small but thick wooden desk in the centre of the room with a high-tech desktop computer upon it. It hadn’t been used in a while, but the penthouse was cleaned very regularly by the maid, making it look spotless.

When I turned on the computer and logged in to my account a screen popped up for around twenty updates. I groaned loudly in frustration and started rooting around the draws to find Jumin’s home laptop. I found it eventually and logged in with that instead. I moved back into the Living room and lounged on the settee with the laptop. At least this way I could look outside and see the city.

Vanderwood was not joking when he said they had searched for a ridiculous amount of information. They had marriage records, births, payments, taxes and all sorts of scattered information, such as Hae’s educational records.

After a few hours of searching, I did find a few things, but it’s only speculative at this point. My brother had gotten married to a girl from another large company a few months ago. My brother is twenty-seven, still a little young for marriage; though my mum did marry my dad as soon as she graduated from university at twenty-two. Weirdly enough, they also had a fairly small ceremony. Not the commonly flashy and overly pretentious wedding I was used to hearing about. The company was also one that my father historically hates and is linked to Mint Eye via fund syphoning. Perhaps it was only made to look that way? It appeared my family was aligning itself with other Mint Eye funders.

Hae was also engaged to a man almost ten years older than her a year ago. I felt so angry. My sister would have barely been eighteen, and my parents have essentially sold her off to some weird man? Apparently, this has been kept a secret from the press. The man didn’t have any ties to anything, completely clean record, however he has no sort of income despite living in a rather large property in the middle of an upper-class housing district. Is he also involved in Mint Eye? There wasn’t any other reason for my sister or my family to be connected to such a man.

My father had been transferring funds to a private off-shore account in small quantities over the past few years. Nothing had been taken out of it though, so it’s unknown what its purpose was.  
Hae’s grades had slowly gone down over the past few months, not enough to be damaging, but still noticeable.

My father had indeed filed a missing person’s report for me, even offering a hefty reward for my return. It’s possible he hasn’t seen me in the press, or he just doesn’t recognise me. Either way, clearly Mint Eye do know I exist, so he likely knows too since my involvement in the RFA. My mother had reportedly tried to conceive another child unsuccessfully.

Connections by marriage is strange for someone like my father, who prefers traditional business partnerships and deals, they must be important to Mint Eye in some way. It was hard to believe they were trying to do something so ordinary when they were commonly requested for assassination services by those not involved in the ethos of the cult.

Saeran said he had been trained in a similar way, but the training was far more intense for the actual assassins. Many of the new recruits had been picked up as children and trained to complete tasks on behalf of the saviour. Rika had a vision for Mint Eye, but it seemed to turn particularly sinister after Rika was taken away from them, involving themselves far more closely with politics and the government. Whether they have a clear plan or just keep trying to play the game is not clear at the moment. They haven’t made a move that points to a particular agenda.

I was about to take a break when I saw a familiar photo. There was a picture in the newspaper of a burning shrine with thousands of people wearing creepy shamanism masks. A few people had them pulled up onto their heads so you could see their faces. I only recognised one of them. The woman that had married my brother stood in the centre towards the middle, wearing a Gaksital mask, the mask of the bride.

I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to Jumin.

MC: My family are involved in Mint Eye.

Han, Jumin: I will call you soon.

I slowly closed the laptop and laid down on the settee, staring at the ceiling with my phone resting on my chest. Was my family a willing donor to Mint Eye all along? It seemed implausible to me, whilst my family valued Korean traditions, my family were not overly religious. For them to turn to such a fanatical group seemed absurd. Were they drugged? Manipulated? How much had my family changed since I left? Ah, I shouldn’t beat myself up about it. I knew that there were a thousand reasons that people would join a cult. If anything, I should be concerned about why they wanted to find me after so long. It must be connected, right?

I felt my phone vibrate, making me jump. I picked it up and it Jumin. That was quick.

“MC, are you alright?” Jumin asked.

“I… don’t know. I’m not sure how to feel.”

“I understand. What did you discover?” I was about to report my findings when I heard some banging noises and someone shouting. Was that Jaehee?

“Jumin… are you supposed to be in a meeting?”

“What would give you that impression?” He asked, blankly.

“I can hear Jaehee shouting for you to open the door. If she keeps hitting it like that she’ll probably break it off its hinges.”

“I will take the cost out of her pay check.” I sighed and he chuckled softly. “Everything is fine MC, this is more important than the absurd idea of one of my interns to make high class dog furniture. That would never be a profitable enterprise.”

“Really?” I laughed, loudly. “You’re so biased Jumin.”

I began explaining what I found and Jumin remained relatively quiet throughout. Jaehee, eventually gave up, grumbling and went back to the meeting on her own.

“Hmm, that would suggest a connection. It is a shame you cannot infiltrate your own family…”

“Why couldn’t I? I could pretend to want to reconnect with them.”

“That is far too dangerous, MC. They could take you away again and they won’t underestimate you after last time.”

“But Jumin…”

“We already have a mission. There is not time to pursue this right now.”

“You don’t even know when we’re doing that yet!” I grumbled loudly.

“I know that it is soon enough for you to not go off on your own and get hurt.” He sighed. “We can set up something after we have dealt with Rika.”

“Fine…” I grumbled.

“I will buy the biggest chocolate death dessert I can find.” He said, teasingly.

“You can’t bribe me!” I laughed while Jumin chuckled back.

“I will be home in an hour or so, if Jaehee does not kill me.”

“Your corpse still owes me dessert.” He sighed, laughing slightly.

“See you soon.” He said, hanging up.

Jumin’s request made complete logical sense and I agreed with his sentiments entirely, but fuck it. This is my family.


	9. Day Eight: Date With Jumin

Jumin’s request made complete logical sense and I agreed with his sentiments entirely, but fuck it. This is my family. I looked up Hae’s current school, she was just about to complete her final exams for high school. Of course, it was some elite private high school like the one both I and my brother had gone to. I was lucky to be able to go to such a place, they’re pretty competitive. Despite leaving home, I still went to Chung-Ang university on a grade-based scholarship to study Psychology, living at one of my close-friends’ house for a while. Their parents were often abroad with work, so they never knew I was there. Though I’ve never gotten around to do a postgraduate qualification, or even work in the industry. I don’t know if I can go back to it now.

I saved the address in my phone and then proceeded to close down everything and log off the computer. I still had a while until Jumin would be done with work. I felt antsy, knowing I would be disappointing him soon. Maybe I’ll die from some sort of chocolate overdose before I get home and won’t have to worry about it.

I felt cooped up in the apartment so I snuck up onto the top of the building to get a better view of the city. It was a little cold, but I didn’t want to head back now. It was only around half five, but the sun was already starting to set, as it was early November. The sunset over the city was beautiful, but it made me feel a little empty inside. As much as I liked working with Vanderwood, I wish I could just live like a normal person for a while and take a break. I leaned against the railing lightly, not trusting it with my full weight, and tried to people watch. It was a bit difficult with how far up we were. Jumin’s apartment block was much larger than Rika’s had been. I was glad I had run into the RFA, I felt lost, having only just graduated, and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. I suppose that’s why ‘Unknown’ thought I would be a good candidate for assimilation.

As the sun set, I felt my phone ring. It was Saeyoung. I hesitated for a moment and answered it reluctantly.

“We’re over aren’t we?” Saeyoung asked bluntly.

“I… don’t know.” I answered after a few seconds. He didn’t say anything straight away and I just listened to him breathing. I sat down on the floor with my back resting against the bars, resting my chin on my knees.

“I want to see you.”

“When?”

“Are you busy tomorrow?” He asked nervously. I sighed quietly, I wanted to see Hae tomorrow. Hopefully I could do it quickly before I had to meet him.

“What time do you want to meet?”

“How about… lunchtime? Around one?” That should leave me enough time to sneak into Hae’s school.

“I should be able to make that. Where do you want to meet me?”

“Noon square?”

“You just want to go to the cat accessory store, don’t you?” I asked, laughing softly.

“No… they also have… good noodles.” He replied, laughing.

“Alright, well I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Wait… are you at Jumin’s, MC?” He asked.

“Yes, since I don’t have my own apartment anymore.”

“Do you… like him now?”

“Can’t we talk about this tomorrow?” I asked, deflecting.

“Please just answer the question.” He said seriously. I sighed deeply.

“I do like Jumin.”

“Then… why were you kissing my brother!?” He asked, irritated.

“Saeran kissed me. I don’t know how I feel about him or you anymore.”

“Oh, so he’s your favourite, huh?” He asked, a slight bitterness to his tone.

“I’ve always been close with Jumin, we’re good friends.” I replied, trying to keep calm. “I... only felt like this recently.” I heard Saeyoung sigh and mutter something under his breath.

“Look, I know this is mostly my fault. I didn’t call you to start an argument. I just… don’t know what to do. I feel like I’ve already lost you and I didn’t even know I was losing you in the first place and after what Saeran told me… I just feel like a complete arsehole.”

“Ehh, what did Saeran tell you?”

“Well… he wasn’t specific. He just said he wanted to be with you no matter what… and how he felt… guilty. I know he did something awful to you and I didn’t even notice as I was so focused on him and myself.” He sounded like he was on the verge of tears, but I didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know whether I can handle this… he’s so sure and I’m just… me, I guess.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing either, Saeyoung… I’m just trying to do what makes me happy, for once. Maybe you should do what makes you happy too.”

“I don’t know how to do that yet… it’s hard to stay positive when you’re trying to figure out what your life is now, look for your best friend and you just realised how ignorant you’ve been to everyone you care about.”

“You’ll find a way, I know you will, you’re a god after all.” I said, smirking to myself. He chuckled softly at that. “Do you have any leads on Yoosung?”

“We looked in all the buildings we suspected were Mint Eye safe-houses, but only one or two were actually legit, but they’d already been cleared out. The only one that still had stuff in it was the one you were at, but that seemed to mostly only hold hostages. Saeran’s trying to access their data via the companies we’ve found that are funding the group but it seems like they have much better protection for it now. They’ve likely relocated everything to completely different places. We tracked Yoosung’s phone but it seemed like it had just been discarded in a random park. We searched the buildings around it but I think he’s long gone by now…”

“Oh no… I hope you can find him soon, or at least when we get him back… that he’ll be alright.”

“That might be too much to hope for based on what Saeran has told me… though they might not cause him too much pain since he’s close to Rika.”

“I guess that’s the best-case scenario…” I trailed off, sighing.

“Anyway, I have to go, Saeran’s calling me. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Sure, see you soon.” I said, hanging up. I flopped down onto the ground and stared up into the sky, which was now being lit up by the stars. I don’t know if I can handle dinner with Jumin, sneaking into a school and then going to lunch with Saeyoung.

I heard the door to the roof open and saw Jumin standing in the doorway, looking concerned. He spots me and quickly walks over to me, I don’t move so he stands next to me with his hand held out to me.

“Would you escort me to dinner, my lady?” He asked smoothly. I smirked a little, blushing.

“I’m sure I look ladylike with all this dust and stuff in my hair.” I replied, accepting his hand. He pulled me up effortlessly and place his hands on my shoulders, observing my face.

“You look beautiful regardless.” He whispered, just loud enough for me to hear, starting to brush stuff out of my hair. “I did not think you would appreciate dining at a high-class restaurant anyway.”

“Hey, am I not good enough for high class?” I asked teasingly, but Jumin kept laying on the compliments.

“You’re the only one I consider high class.” He said, smiling.

“Have you been drinking?” I asked sarcastically. He laughed.

“I wouldn’t drink at work. Anyway, I just thought you would appreciate a more… casual setting.”

“Do you even know what a casual setting is?” I asked, giggling.

“Probably…” He said, sighing.

“So… where are we going?”

“You will see soon enough.” He said, grabbing onto my hand and leading me back down to the penthouse. He excused himself to get changed into ‘casual’ clothes and went to freshen myself up a bit and changed into a nicer, non-dusty top. I’m sure jeans will be fine. Jumin walked out of his room in black stonewashed jeans, a stripy t-shirt and a jacket.

“Wow, did Zen take you shopping?” Jumin bristled and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, leading me out of the penthouse.

“Let’s just go.” He grumbled and I giggled softly.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We were taken to Timesquare, a high-end mall, with a mix of food pricings and tastes. Well, it wasn’t exactly most people’s idea of casual, due to the expensive stores and the required dress code for some of the restaurants, but I suppose it was pretty laid-back for Jumin. At least wherever we were going, you didn’t have to wear a tie to get in, I mean c’mon, that’s basically scandalous! Though I don’t think I can get him to eat Korean street food just yet, or ever. 

I had forgotten just how large this place was, it had all kinds of facilities inside, including a ballroom. As soon as we entered the mall, Jumin lead me straight past all the food, and took me up to the rooftop garden. I eyed him suspiciously but he just smiled at me. When we got to the gardens, it was empty, except for a large blanket on the grass and a small folding table with wine on it. There was a woman stood up there keeping an eye on the scene and Jumin waved at her briefly. She nodded and made her way back downstairs. 

“Did you… rent out the whole garden?” I asked, surprised.

“It would seem that way.” He replied, smirking. “Would you like a drink?”

“S-sure…” I stuttered, sitting down on the blanket. Jumin handed me a glass of wine, and sat down next to me, which broke me out of my confusion.

“I thought you might like to dine under the stars.” I smiled and had a small sip from my glass.

“It’s… beautiful up here.” I whispered.

“True.” He said, staring at me, I blushed slightly as the woman returned with a picnic basket.

“Enjoy!” She said, smiling.

“Thank you for your service.” Jumin replied and she quickly left. Inside the basket was a large array of freshly grilled meat and seafood with vegetables.

“This is a lot of food…” I mumbled, immediately diving in to eat the king prawns. Jumin smiled.

“I’m glad you like it.” Jumin watched in surprise and slight horror as I quickly devoured the food whilst he ate like a normal human. “You skipped lunch didn’t you.”

“It’s possible that that happened.” He sighed and poured himself another glass of wine.

“Saeyoung called me earlier.” I said and Jumin paused for a second.

“What did he say?”

“He wants to see me tomorrow to talk about everything.”

“You don’t exactly sound pleased about that.”

“I don’t know what to say to him. I think I’ve moved on, but at the same time I feel like I never dealt with my feelings.”

“Makes sense…” He said, looking a little distant.

“Jumin…” I said quietly, causing him to look up at me again. “I… do want to be close to you.” I whispered.

“I want to be close to you too.” He said, looking into my eyes. He put his hand to my cheek and wiped away a tear I didn’t realise I had shed.

“I’m… sorry I’m so complicated.” I grimaced.

“It doesn’t matter, MC. I… don’t want to let you go now.” He whispered, placing a kiss to the back of my hand. My eyes widened and he smiled. “I was aware of the possibility that things might get complicated with those two when I started this venture with you. I believe we can come to an acceptable arrangement if required, there’s no need to rush into anything.” I would say this was oddly relaxed of Jumin, but he’d clearly already formulated some sort of intricate plan with many eventualities. How long had he thought about this for?

“You’ve already got plans laid out, haven’t you?” I groaned. “Thank you for thinking so much about me.” I said, smiling.

“It’s worth it.” He smiled, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek. I quickly move my face to kiss him on the lips softly. 

He was startled for a second before leaning back in and kissing me more, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me closer. I opened my mouth and tilted my head back, allowing him access to deepen the kiss with his tongue. He pulled me down on top of him, placing his hand at the back of my head and tangling his hand in my hair. I moved my legs to either side of him so I wasn’t so awkwardly sprawled on top of him. I ran my hand under his t-shirt slowly, feeling him shiver underneath me until I rested my hand on his shoulder. He returned the favour by running his hand down my back, making me moan into his mouth and arch my back. He took the opportunity to kiss up and down my neck, making me moan louder before he covered my mouth with his hand. He rolled us over so he was on top of me and he leaned over me, both of us breathing heavily.

“Maybe we should go home.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jumin pulled me down on top of him and started kissing and nibbling at my breasts through my shirt and cupping them in his hands. I arched my back, gripping onto Jumin’s duvet and moaning loudly. I sat up on top of him, shedding my shirt and throwing it somewhere. Jumin immediately and ran his hands up and down my bare skin, causing me to tremble, and kissed across my skin wherever he could. I gripped onto his t-shirt and he ran his hands up either side of my body slowly from my hips until he reached the sides of my breasts and began running his thumbs softly across the hardened buds. I rocked against him, trying to relieve the feelings of pent-up arousal. He took off his own shirt and started undoing my jeans. 

We awkwardly tugged both of our trousers off and he pulled me back down on top of him, gently squeezing both of my breasts together so he could play with both of my nipples in his mouth. I shuddered on top of him, feeling his hardness underneath me through his boxers. He snaked his hand down my back and grabbed onto one side of my butt to press me into him harder, making me gasp. I started rubbing myself against him whilst he had his other hand on one of my breasts and the other in his mouth. I pushed myself against him with more force and he tightened his hold on my butt as I moaned loudly. 

We continued for a while until we were both satisfied and Jumin pulled me tightly into his embrace. I panted against his chest, feeling heavy and overwhelmed whilst listening to Jumin’s fast heartbeat. I listened to it eventually slow down whilst I started to drift off to sleep. Jumin gently stroked my hair and kissed my forehead.


	10. Day Nine: Noodles and Hae

When I woke up I was still in Jumin’s arms, his body heat keeping me warm as the duvet ended up wrapped around our legs before I fell asleep and I still only wearing my underwear. He was sleeping soundly with his head resting on top of my own, his soft hair tickling my face.

Light streamed through the curtains, slightly burning my eyes. They hadn’t been closed properly due to us going straight to bed. I tried to move so I could sit up but Jumin just held onto me tighter. I yawned and craned my neck to look at the alarm clock. It was eight in the morning. Jumin was definitely going to be late for work.

I shook his shoulder and he crinkled up his nose, groaning and turning his face away from the light.

“Ugh, MC… what time is it?”

“Eight.” I said bluntly. He groaned loudly and rubbed at his eyes, slowly sitting up in bed.

“I’m doomed.” He grumbled, finally opening his eyes to look over at me. “Good morning MC.” He said, smiling, his voice slightly hoarse.

“Would you like me to make some coffee?” I asked.

“Hmm, absolutely.” He grumbled, pulling me back against his chest tightly, his arms wrapped around my own so I couldn’t escape. “In half an hour…” He yawned, trailing off.

“I’m such a bad influence on you.” I sighed, snuggling into his chest and he chuckled softly, nuzzling against the top of my head. After a few moments, I heard a phone vibrating and looked up at Jumin. He sighed and stretched his arm out to pick his phone up from the floor.

“Yes?” He answered groggily. I could hear someone shouting on the other end. I started to roll away, but Jumin held me close to his chest. “I’m already on my way… I’m in the car right now.” I looked at him, slightly shocked and he just smirked at me. “I had to stop off somewhere on the way in and got caught in traffic. What are you saying? Nothing is going on.”

I heard my phone text sound. I had received a text from Jaehee.

Kang, Jaehee: Are you at Mr Han’s penthouse?

I showed it to Jumin and he sighed.

“Assistant Kang, I am not even late yet. It is not a technicality, it is a fact.” She was texting me whilst calling Jumin? How busy is he supposed to be today? “I’m not going to get there faster if you keep complaining…” Jumin sighed and hung up the phone. “I have to get ready.” He said, irritated, already walking off to the bathroom.

I didn’t want to get ready until he left so I could put on my disguise so I pulled Jumin’s dressing gown on and went to make coffee and breakfast. Jumin doesn’t really have a lot in his fridge, I suspect he just eats at his office. The best thing I can probably make is scrambled egg on toast so I guess that’ll be it. I didn’t bother making Jumin breakfast, since he was late, but I still made him coffee and put it into a fancy travel mug I found in the cabinet.

I’d just started eating my breakfast when Jumin came in. He was dressed in his work attire but his hair was still wet, slightly sticking to his face. He eyed my breakfast with jealousy.

“I made you coffee to go.” I smiled, gesturing to the travel mug.

“Thank you, MC.” He replied picking it up.

“You know your hair is soaked, right?”

“I’m not going to have time to dry it. Assistant Kang keeps calling me and whining.” He sighed. “I will see you later. Oh, and Stark messaged me. Apparently Yoosung called into the hospital, saying he wanted to collect Rika. When he heard about the transfer, he made quite the scene… We will have to leave soon, we believe they will try to ambush the transfer.”

“Was Yoosung okay?”

“I do not know, Stark did not hear the call himself, he was told about it afterwards by the hospital. He had already told him that someone may call, so they’ve insisted that if anyone wants to pick her up they will have to do in in person.”

“We’re leaving soon then?”

“Hopefully we will be leaving tomorrow. I just need to sort out all my affairs before we can leave. I always end up busy with C&R when I need to do something important.”

“Well you’re not usually in the field. This is more of a one off if anything. It shouldn’t do too much damage to the company.”

“No… It just means I have to try and make up for lost time when I get back. Whenever I take any sort of personal time off or I am slightly late to anything all people talk about is how lucky I am that my father runs the company. They do not say it to me directly of course, but I am not stupid.”

“I’m sure they trust you more than that…”

“Hah, Jaehee always has to do damage control. I know it’s because we’re busy right now, they just want someone to blame, and who better than me, right?” He sighed bitterly. “I need to go. I will see you later and hopefully we can get this business sorted out.” Jumin half-stormed out of the penthouse with his coffee and I rushed to the bathroom to get ready.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whilst the gate to the school was now closed, I managed to hop over the wall behind the large gymnasium at the back of the school grounds. It was a heavily forested area and provided a decent amount of cover. I crouched down next to the large bin and opened a piece of paper with my sister’s schedule written inside.

She had classes until 4pm, but she would likely be at school until 11 or 12pm and then would study at home until at least 2am. It was only a few days before she would need to take her CSATs; I hoped she would get into a good university so she could relax for a few years and have some fun.

I snuck into the school and headed up to the floor she had her classes in. I eventually found her room and looked through the glass pane in the door. Luckily, she was sat at the back of the room and immediately spotted me so I didn’t have to alert the rest of the class. I continued staring at her and she squinted at me and when she realised who I was, she went pale and looked shocked. I held up a piece of paper saying, ‘meet me behind the gym’. She looked afraid, but she nodded at me when the teacher turned around. I quickly slinked back out of the school without anyone noticing I was there and went back to my position behind the gym, waiting.

I waited for a few hours, playing games on my phone when I received a text from an unknown number.

Unknown: Don’t trust Yoosung.  
Saeran

I stared at my phone, slightly confused. Saeran must have his own phone now. Did he really think Yoosung would have fallen off the deep end so quickly? I was about to save his number when I heard a noise.

“Mina?” Hae called out, quietly. I had not heard that name in a long time so it stopped me in my tracks. I quickly regained my composure and slid out from behind the bin.

“Hae.” I said, flatly.

“I… can’t believe it’s you. Dad said… you were dead.” She whispered, tears starting to form in her eyes. Her eyes were already red and puffy. She must have been crying on the way here. “I tried to find you but… I never did. I guess you beat me to it…” She said, a small smile on her face.

“Please don’t cry for me Hae… I was the one that left.” She wiped her eyes and ran to me, throwing her arms around me.

“I know they made you leave. I wish I had the guts to do it too sometimes…” She whispered, burying her face into my chest. She still hugged me the same way. “How did you get here? Why are you here? Why are you wearing a school uniform?” She fired off several questions quickly and it took me a few seconds to take them all in.

“Well… I climbed over the wall, I wanted to see if you were alright and… I needed a disguise?” She laughed softly, through the tears.

“I’m so happy to see you after all this time…”

“I was worried you’d hate me…” I said. She looked up at me, taken aback.

“I could never hate you! Though… I can see why you’d worry… they want me to act like you never existed. So, I pretend… and I pretend to be happy and…” She whispered trailing off. I rubbed her back reassuringly.

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to explain everything right now. I wish I could have seen you under better circumstances, rather than appearing like some sort of ghost.”

“So, you’re going to take me with you, right?” She asked, hopefully. It wasn’t my plan… but her expression killed me.

“I… can’t. Not right now.” I said. She looked disheartened.

“Please don’t leave me here! I don’t want to go back home, I don’t want to marry some creepy old man I’ve never even met!” She pleaded with me desperately.

“You’ve never even met him?”

“No… he sends me all these letters and pictures and Mum always makes me reply to them and tells me what I should say!” I sighed deeply, trying to control my anger.

“How about… after you’ve finished your CSATs? I can’t just take you out of school.”

“Fine…” She mumbled, clearly disappointed. “I guess all Dad’s guards would be sent after me anyway… but you found a way to hide, right?”

“Yes… but it’ll be much easier to keep you away from them once you've completed your CSATs next week.”

“Is that why you left after graduation?” I nodded and she sighed. “Alright, fine… I understand.” She said, sniffling. “I don’t know how to process this right now. I’ll be happy as long as I don’t have to marry him after university, that’s the ‘deal’ or whatever.”

“Who even is this guy?”

“I don’t know… someone Dad works with. At least that’s what Mum says. I’ve not really spoken to Dad for like two years. He just comes home at 8pm, eats dinner, goes to bed and he’s already gone to work before I even wake up, even at the weekend. It’s excessive, even if he does own the company.”

“Why hasn’t Yong-sun taken over?”

“Mum says she thinks he isn’t experienced enough yet. I guess it’s a big deal for him to just give up his company like that.” I nod, I guess she doesn’t know anything about Mint Eye yet. It’s probably for the best. I heard a bell ring and Hae sighed, disappointed.

“I’ve got to get back to class… are you leaving?”

“Yeah… unfortunately. I have some other things to take care of.”

“I understand… hey, quickly, take my number. You can let me know when you’re coming.”

“Sure.” I typed her number into my phone and saved it. She quickly hugged me tightly and then started running back to class.

I pulled myself back over the wall and disappeared into the trees.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I somehow managed to get to Noon square early despite leaving Hae’s school at about 11am. It was about a half hour drive just from there. I hadn’t actually asked Saeyoung where I should meet him so I went to get a to-go hot chocolate while I waited for him.

I had just received my drink when I got a text from Saeyoung.

Seven: I just parked. Meet me at the car park lift on the entrance floor!

It wasn’t too far away from where I was so I hurried over; I was impressed that he had even managed to park here since there’s only like 100 spaces. Saeyoung was chatting with Saeran at the lift. I approached slowly and Saeran walked off to the escalators, going upstairs somewhere.

He turned around and smiled as he saw me approach.

“MC!” He said, happily, pulling me into a slightly awkward hug.

“Hey…” I said, smiling as he let go of me.

“You hungry?” He asked.

“Yeah, I haven’t eaten yet.”

“Me neither!” He said, grabbing onto my hand and pulling me towards the escalators.

“I guess we’re getting noodles right now then.”

“Of course!” He laughed, still holding onto my hand. While I felt weird being this close to him so soon it almost felt… normal? “Wow, I’ve not been here in forever…” He said more seriously.

“I’ve been here a few times with Jaehee and Zen.” Jaehee likes to criticise the coffee and Zen likes looking at the unique designer clothes on level 5. They’re pretty fun to look at, but you could never justify buying anything from there.

“Yeah… it’s kinda weird being outside, I feel claustrophobic!”

“We’re indoors!”

“That’s beside the point!” He laughed. “I’ve spent a whole year just going from the bunker to the hospital and now I spend all my time cooped up in the warehouse with Vandy and the gang.”

“I hate the warehouse.”

“It’s not too bad…”

“It’s so devoid of life, even the birds have disappeared!” I said and he laughed.

“True… hey, noodles!” He pulled me over to the noodle restaurant and we sat at the back of the restaurant out of the way. He ordered tea for us as soon as we entered.

“So… what do you want to talk about?” I asked. He fiddled with his napkin, trying to fold it into a swan, trying to think of something.

“Can you… really date three people?” He asked, not looking at me.

“It’s not really a big deal unless it becomes public…” I replied, trailing off.

“I don’t mean like that… I meant for you personally.”

“I mean… It’s a little strange for me… but I feel like it’s something we should all talk about together. Jumin seemed fine with it and you already know how Saeran feels, though I wouldn’t really say we were... anything.”

“What? Jumin said that? Are you sure it was him?”

“He’s already got some sort of plan up his sleeve…”

“Wow… I mean, I thought he’d be the last person to accept it. When has that guy ever had to share anything?” I sighed, hoping the woman would come back soon to break the tension.

“And… you’re not dating Saeran? You seemed pretty close to me…”

“It’s not that simple… I’ve spent hardly any time with him since he got back. I don’t really know anything about him as he is now.”

“But he said-”

“Saeyoung.” I said seriously, looking at his eyes. “You don’t have to go along with this just because everyone else is okay with it. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not even guaranteed to work out, especially if you keep pitting everyone against each other.” He kept fiddling with the napkin until the tea arrived. I immediately started to serve it so I could distract myself. Saeyoung broke out of his trance to order before she left, and was immediately lost in thought afterwards. After a few minutes, he looked up at me.

“I want to try… I think. At least I gave it a chance… right?”

“You don’t have to force yourself-”

“No, no, I want to do this.” He laughed softly and sipped at his tea, pulling a face.

“Have you only been drinking fizzy drinks again?” I asked.

“It’s the liquid of god I tell you! How could I give up such a beverage?!” He swooned dramatically, making me laugh. “Anyway… I hear you’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Apparently… I haven’t heard anything from Jumin though. I feel like he’s going to be working through the night.”

“Such an overachiever.” Saeyoung paused when the woman brought out the food and waited until she went back to the cashier to start talking again. “I wanted to go too, but Vanderwood’s got me helping him hack into a few computers and hard drives we managed to recover from old safehouses. A lot of it seems to be blackmail and account details.”

“Are you planning on exposing secrets?”

“It’s not really Jumin’s style, so Vandy doesn’t want to do it unless it’s necessary. Apparently, we’re going to set up meetings with them to see what their intentions are. If they’re actually involved, maybe we can squeeze some information out of them.”

“I thought you were looking for Yoosung?”

“Saeran’s taken over that. Vandy said I was getting too emotional.” I thought back to the text he sent you earlier. Did he find something? Or was it just a warning based on experience? I pulled out my phone and showed it to Saeyoung. “I’m sure it’s just a precaution… he wouldn’t lie to me, right?” He said, worrying over his noodles.

“I’m sure you can ask him…” I said reassuringly.

“I don’t know how Jumin’s father lets him spend so much money on this anyway…”

“He didn’t seem to mind as long as it doesn’t affect the company. He was angry that C&R was funding Mint Eye, so getting rid of them seemed to be a good idea. Plus, it could expose other company’s affiliations, so it could help C&R either way by avoiding working with particular people.”

“Sounds kinda shady…”

“It’s not like he’s involved in anything… it’s only really risky to Jumin, which is why he hired Vanderwood to take over most of the work for it since he’d be better at it anyway. He’s just a… freeloader I guess. Jumin pays for most of it himself anyway with his own money and the some of the donations we’ve received via the RFA fundraisers.”

“How… noble.” He laughed. “He probably feels like it’s his responsibility.”

The rest of the meal went by without a hitch and we left the restaurant. Saeyoung excused himself for a moment to call Saeran to find out what he was doing. I was standing next to one of the unoccupied shops, waiting for Saeyoung when one of the doors opened next to me and I was pulled inside of it.


	11. Day Nine: Snipers with Saeran

I was standing next to one of the unoccupied shops, waiting for Saeyoung when one of the doors opened next to me and I was pulled inside of it. They crushed me against their chest with their arms, holding me tightly and placed their hand over my mouth.

“Calm down, MC, it’s me.” He let me go slowly and I turned to face Saeran.

“What are you doing?!” I asked, furious.

“Someone I recognise is following you. They’re Mint Eye, but I don’t remember who they are.”

“What about Saeyoung?” 

“I sent him a message. He should be meeting us in the car park. If it’s not safe I’ll take you back to Jumin’s myself.”

“With all your shopping?” I asked, looking behind him. He scoffed.

“It’s only a few bags. I don’t exactly have many clothes, other than Saeyoung’s.” I looked at his outfit and he was wearing an odd mixture of his own ‘alternative’ clothes mixed with Saeyoung’s more nondescript casual clothes. Dark distressed skinny jeans matched with a pale green shirt and one of Saeyoung’s hoodies. I smirked and he glared at me slightly. “Let’s go.” He said, grabbing his bags in one hand and pulling me along with the other.

“Do you need help with that?”

“I’m fine, just keep moving.” He said coldly.

“You’re worried, aren’t you?”

“If they’re here looking for you, they’re probably dangerous and I’m not exactly the best equipped to deal with this right now. My stupid brother thinks I can just have a normal life. I’m a hacker and a… murderer, it’s what I’m good at. At least now I can think straight.” I kept quiet and followed behind him closely, not really sure what to say to him. It was weird being behind the stores in the shopping centre. It was very quiet and eerie alongside the storage of the backrooms.

“The stairs are over here.” Saeran whispered, moving silently down the hallway, guiding me along. On the way down, he stops a few times and we hide to avoid the workers in case they get suspicious.  
When we reach the door to the carpark, he calls Saeyoung. It goes to the machine.

“Do you have a gun?” He asks. I nod. “Give it to me.” I hesitate. Saeran turns around and his eyes bore into mine, menacingly. “Give. It. To. Me… Please?” I sigh and hold it out to him, already regretting it. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not fragile anymore.” He whispers, squeezing my hand gently to reassure me. He takes the gun from me and holds it firmly.

“Do you want me to-” He cuts me off.

“I’m fine. Just stay behind me.” I rolled my eyes. I knew how to evade someone, Saeran. He opened the door slowly and we ducked behind cars, making our way over to one of Saeyoung’s ‘babies’. “He’s not here…”

“I have a driver outside.” I mentioned.

“Where?” He asked.

“Wherever we want him to be.”

“Send him to the Seoul Plaza. We should be able to lose who’s following us by then.” I pulled out my phone and sent a message to my driver. He sent a confirmation message and we kept moving.

When we exited the building, Saeran tucked the gun in one of the inside pockets of his jacket, zipping his jacket up halfway to prevent it from flapping around. He pulled me into the crowd, and we started hopping from group to group in the hopes of avoiding whoever Saeran had seen. 

We turned a corner and heard a loud gunshot hit the side of the wall we just passed. Saeran immediately pulled me into the nearest alleyway, avoiding the panicking crowd.

“That was a sniper rifle…” I whispered, feeling a little stunned.

“Apparently they don’t mind causing a scene.”

We ran down the alleyway and found a man standing at the end of it. He saw us and reached into his pocket, but Saeran had already pulled the gun out from his pocket and taken aim. Before I could intervene, he shot him straight in the head and swiped his gun from his hand, pulling me down the street. 

I ran behind him, feeling bewildered. He went down a small side street and into the lobby of some small independent business offices. He found one that looked empty, finding it to be oddly unlocked and pulled us inside of it. He sat down behind some left-over filing cabinets and threw his collection of bags down beside him. I sat down next to him. He had gripped the gun so tightly that his knuckles turned white. I slowly reached out and placed my hands around the hand holding the gun. His gaze snapped to mine, eyes looking empty and he slowly calmed down, releasing his hold on the gun. I took it from him and put it down next to me.

“Saeran?”

“I’m alright, I just need a minute.” He closed his eyes for a few moments and then slowly opened them, visibly more relaxed. “I’ll try calling Saeyoung.” After a few moments, he groaned in frustration. “Fucking arsehole! He’s always so unreliable.” He put his head in his hands. I slid in front of him and wrapped my arms around him. I felt him flinch in surprise, but then he relaxed, breathing out deeply.

“I’m not fragile either Saeran.” I said softly.

“I’m more worried about what you think about me.” He whispered, smiling softly.

“What do you mean?”

“I know you don’t feel the same about me as I do for you, and I wouldn’t expect you to either. I just never get to show you… how I really am. Or at least, who I want to be. The side I want you to see… And here I am, murdering people right in front of your eyes, trying not to lose control. Yet, I somehow want to have a normal relationship with you.” He looked stared ahead of him and I paused for a moment to think of something to say.

“My life is complicated right now… this sort of thing is almost normal to me. I’m just surprised they acted so publicly. I think we just need time. We’ve never had any sort of a relationship before… maybe we need to start off simple?” He turned his gaze to me, his expression softer now, and just stared into my eyes.

He quickly leaned towards me to kiss me softly on the cheek, his thumb lightly stroking my cheekbone. My cheeks turned to a soft pink in surprise and Saeran’s phone stared ringing. He quickly turned to answer it.

“Where are you? We’re fine… hiding out nearby, we didn’t get far. Yes, it was us. Alright, see you there.” He turned to me. “He’s parked outside the church around the corner, let’s go.” He got up slowly and helped pull me up. I put the gun back in my pocket.

The glass immediately shattered from the high set windows in the office as we walked towards the door. We immediately ducked down as our ears were barraged with the sound of gunfire. As I was leant against the doorframe I slowly pushed open the door, thankful it was not obliterated by the parade of guns. They were not able to see us. I heard the glass shatter in the floors above us. They were not sure where we were in the building.

“We can get out through the back.” I said, tugging on Saeran’s hand.

“They might be waiting outside for us.” He replied.

“Well they’re definitely at the front. We can always get up onto the roof… try to cross onto one of the other buildings.” I suggested.

“Let’s see if we can figure out where they are first.” He offered in return. I nodded and then stiffened, squeezing Saeran’s hand. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Saeyoung… He’s still out there.” I whispered. Saeran immediately pulled out his phone and called Saeyoung to little success. I sighed, feeling a crushing weight on my heart.

“Let’s move.” I mumbled coldly, before heading up the stairs, keeping low. Saeran followed behind, keeping his eyes behind us, while I focused on what was in front of us. The upper half of the staircase was in full view from a large window at the end of the first-floor corridor. I held my hand out to Saeran as I slowly inched so I could see out of the window. The windows had been shot out on the top floor of the building across from us in the alleyway. I couldn’t see anyone inside from this angle, so I quickly slid back down the stairs to Saeran.

“They’re right across from us, probably watching the building.” I explained. He nodded and we headed back down to ground floor.

“Backdoor it is then.” He mumbled begrudgingly. He pulled out his phone, quickly texting Saeyoung our plan.

“I hope he sees it.” I stated woefully. I slowly pushed open the door, relief washing over me as the door remained intact. “Seems to be good so far.” I grimaced. We slowly inched out into the narrow alleyway that ran behind the buildings, Saeran’s collection of bags rustling loudly beside me.

I walked to the opposite end of the alleyway with Saeran following closely behind me. It seemed like the safer option to avoid the gunmen at all costs. When we reached the end of the alley I slowly peered around the corner. The street was deserted due the previous gun-related activity and police officers had finally begun to file into the area to assess the situation.

“We need to avoid them as well, MC. I don’t think it would be great for me to exist on the police database. I’m not even sure if I have a proper identity.” Saeran explained coldly.

“We’ll go this way then.” I replied, turning the other way down the smaller side-street to the right to avoid the main street on the left. Saeran followed behind me, but was dawdling as he was repeatedly trying to call Saeyoung. 

At the end of the street, life seemed to be continuing as usual, despite people looking flustered and generally distressed. The police must have been able to quickly establish where the focal point of the situation was at least. Hopefully that meant we wouldn’t run into further trouble. I ushered Saeran into a close by Boba-tea café. 

“You can call him from here, we don’t want to go too far away.” I said. Saeran grunted in response, sat down at a nearby table and began fiddling around with his phone. The assortment of bags pooling around his feet.

I stood in the que to order so we wouldn’t get kicked out. I wasn’t sure how long it would take for Saeyoung to reply. I ordered a Matcha flavoured tea for myself and some sort of chocolatey death explosion for Saeran, knowing he has a sweet-tooth. I placed the cup down in front of him and he eyed it hungrily, trying not to get too distracted. I sat down across from him.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Hacking into Saeyoung’s phone.” He replied blankly before shovelling the cream atop the chocolatey drink into his mouth. I smirked and sipped on my tea when I felt my own phone vibrate in my pocket. I had completely forgotten about it. When I pulled out the phone, I saw that it was Jaehee calling me.

“Hello, Jaehee?” I asked, confusion lacing my voice. I heard a sigh of relief on the other end.

“MC, are you alright? Jumin said he saw something about a shooting on the news and he was worried.”

“The news is correct, though we’re fine. We managed to get away.” I said quickly, not wanting to go into the lengthy details or alert anyone in the vicinity.

“So, they were shooting at you?” She asked worriedly.

“Well they followed us to an office building, but the police must have scared them off. Though we haven’t been able to get into contact with Saeyoung since.”

“Maybe he’s with the police?” She offered reassuringly, clearly out of her element. Jaehee had little to do with this side of my life. 

Vanderwood basically acted as a more independent version of Jaehee for the side of the RFA involved in undercover operations. I didn’t blame her; she didn’t want to be involved with an organisation on the fine-line of legality. Jumin had technically made sure our operations were legally sanctioned, but his influence only went so far. He could get into a lot of trouble if he didn’t play his cards correctly, especially if Vanderwood, myself or another recruit did something without his authorisation.

“Yeah, that’s probably all it is.” I replied, a fake smile plastered across my face. “Tell Jumin not to worry about it, I have everything under control.”

“Yes, hopefully he’ll concentrate on his meetings now.” She replied, an edge of annoyance to her tone.

“Haha, sorry. I’ll call him later.”

“Alright, good bye MC.” She sighed.

“Bye-bye.” I said cutely. Saeran rolled his eyes at me.

“Any luck?” I asked Saeran.

“I got through to his camera, but it just looks like it’s in his pocket.”

“Can you get any sound?”

“It’s all garbled, I can’t tell what he’s saying.”

“Want me to try?”

“I suppose…” He sighed, before passing his phone to me. I held it to my ear as Saeran gulped down his drink. True, it was garbled, but I could hear two voices. It sounded like he was talking to someone. Maybe Jaehee had been right after all?

“It sounds like he’s talking to someone.” I said, hearing what sounded like a door closing. I heard a bunch of static noises, then silence, before I heard a loud sigh and Saeyoung’s voice.

“Stop hacking my phone Saeran!” Saeyoung bellowed at his phone. I jumped in my seat out of surprise before handing Saeran’s phone back to him.

“How many times do you hack into his phone?” I asked smirking.

“An amount...” He laughed before calling Saeyoung for the thousandth time.

Saeran arranged for us to be picked up back a few streets away and we made our way over to Saeyoung’s car without further adversity. We both clambered into the small backseat area.

“Could you buy a more practical fucking car please?!” Saeran growled, tossing all his bags into the leftover space.

“Maybe, when I’m an old man.” He smiled, looking relieved to see us. He quickly pulled out from the pavement and sped off. Saeran calmly placed our drinks in the cup holders before a storm clouded his expression.

“Where were you?!” Saeran asked exasperatedly.

“Well I didn’t want my pretty baby to get shot up by a bunch of losers, so I drove off and ran straight into a police barricade further down the road. It took a while to convince them I wasn’t some sort of crazy terrorist.” He explained sheepishly.

“Yeah, I can see why they’d have trouble figuring that out.” Saeran grumbled “Some use you are, we could have both been killed!” He complained.

“Look, I’m sorry okay, what did you think I was going to do, storm the building?”

“Well I expected you to do more than possibly let MC die in some run-down office!” Saeran shouted. I heard Saeyoung sigh, my eyes flicking up to the rear-view mirror and I noticed him start to switch off from reality.

“Where to?” Saeyoung asked me, sounding almost robotic.

“Jumin’s I suppose.” I replied, not wanting to entice further argument. He didn’t say anything in reply and just kept driving, looking tense. I was about to say something when Saeran pulled me into his arms and held me closely to his chest. I let him hold onto me, feeling worn out and eventually drifted off into a short nap after the adrenaline bled away.


	12. Day Nine & Ten: Catching up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I appreciate your support regardless :)

I sat awkwardly in Jumin’s Livingroom, waiting for him to come home. Saeyoung was messing around with the cats; Jumin would be angry but I didn’t feel like putting in the effort. Saeran was sat next to me, doodling in pencil on some documents left on Jumin’s coffee table; but I didn’t feel like dealing with that either. He was just trying to distract himself from thinking about what just happened. I stared at his drawings until he looked up at me.

“I wasn’t afraid of the gun.” He said quietly. I looked at him questioningly so he continued. “I was only thinking about losing you. I was furious that we were in danger despite me trying to keep us safe…” He trailed off and went back to doodling. I gently placed my hand on his head and stroked his soft hair; it seemed to comfort him and it made me feel slightly better having something to do.

It didn’t take too long for Jumin to turn up, thank god. I was still stroking Saeran’s hair but Saeyoung was the only one that found the setting to be awkward.

“Do you know who it was?” Jumin asked Saeran. He slowly looked up from his doodles, meeting Jumin’s eyes.

“I know his face, not his name. No idea about the marksman, other than that I doubt it was the same person.” Saeran replied.

“I thought so as well. It would have taken too long to set up. They must have been tracking you via the rooftop when you left.” Jumin hypothesised. Saeran looked down a little, probably still feeling like he had failed to keep me safe.

“I believe he may have been one of the alchemists… the people that concocted the drugs. I’m just not sure why he would be there, so I keep thinking I might have been wrong.”

“Hmm…” Jumin mumbled, considering the possibilities.

“I had to use my gun.” I said bluntly. Saeran’s eyes widened. Jumin didn’t notice and nodded at me.

“Yes… I heard that some unidentified man was found dead near to the scene. I’m sorry that it came to that… are you alright?”

“Yeah… just a little shaken up. He started to pull out his gun so I just reacted. I thought they wanted to capture me, not kill me.”

“Are you sure they were aiming for you?” Jumin asked, his eyes drifting over to the twins. I definitely couldn’t answer that. 

“I have no idea.”

“They have plenty of reason to kill me and Saeran.” Saeyoung finally added. “I imagine we’re just in the way.” Jumin considered it for a moment.

“That makes sense, but I don’t think we can rule anything out.” Jumin looked lost in thought and Saeyoung jumped up from the settee and turned to look at us, his 707 mask on.

“Well… we should probably get going… right Saeran?” He said with a fake smile.

“I’m staying here.” Saeran replied quickly. Saeyoung stiffened, looking more awkward than before.

“Whilst you didn’t ask… That is fine with me.” Jumin said, typing something into his phone. “Keep in mind that we are leaving early in the morning.” Saeran mumbled in confirmation and started to stare out the window. Saeyoung sighed.

“Okay… well I’ll see you guys later. Be careful in Alaska MC, Jumin.” I was about to stand up to say goodbye but he rushed out the door before I had the chance. Jumin raised his eyebrow and shook his head a little.

“How rude…” Jumin noted to himself. “I’ve sent for some food to be brought up by the way.” I smiled at him in appreciation and he relaxed a little.

“Thanks.” Saeran said blankly. Jumin sat down on the other side of me and leaned his head back against the settee, arms sprawled out along the top edge, looking up at the ceiling.

“Long day?” I asked, leaning against his shoulder.

“I heard about the shooting on the news, knowing it was close to where you were going. I was busy, but I was… distracted convincing myself it wasn’t you. Then you called me and I felt like I was drowning. Anything could have happened and I would have been too busy working to even realise…” He sighed.

“At least you weren’t being shot at.” Saeran said bluntly. I glared at him when Jumin started laughing.

“I think that reality is closer than I would like.” Jumin said quietly. I sighed, relieved and Saeran smirked at me, resting his head on my shoulder. The scene felt oddly comfortable. We sat for a while, relaxing until the food arrived.

We all sat at the table when I received a text. It was from Saeran, despite being sat next to me. I opened it casually.

Choi, Saeran: Don’t cover for me.

I looked up at him and he flashed me a look of disappointment. I thought it would be easier if I took the fall for it, since it was my gun, but apparently, I just offended him. I admit I was tired of lying and deflecting about Saeran, but I wanted to try and move on from the past. Saeran was different now, right?

Later, whilst I got ready for bed, I heard a hushed argument outside the bathroom door. I couldn’t tell what they were saying, but when I came out, Jumin and Saeran were staring at each other, looking both pleased and disappointed. They looked like they’d come to an uneasy alliance. I looked between them, but they gave nothing away.

When I headed to bed, I paused wondering which room to sleep in when Jumin pulled me into his room with Saeran close behind me. He pulled me into bed with him, his arm wrapped around the back of my neck and Saeran laid down on the other side of me, snuggling into my side. I rested my head on Jumin’s chest. Neither of them said anything, as though this was a natural conclusion to the day. I felt too tired to care so much about it, so I quickly drifted off to sleep, feeling like I was a part of a puppy pile.

 

I awoke feeling out of breath when I realised I was actually struggling to breathe. 

Both Jumin and Saeran had one of their legs resting on the lower half of my body, with their torsos crushing down on either side of my own. Saeran was partially leant over to rest on my chest whilst Jumin was practically laying on top of me with his arm laid on top of Saeran’s back. 

I pushed against their bodies but their combined weight was too much for me so I settled on gently tapping on Jumin’s face, knowing he was generally easier to wake up. He immediately scrunched up his face and rolled back onto his side. I breathed in deeply, feeling relieved.

“Oh, MC are you okay? I’m so sorry, I didn’t know I was suffocating you.”

“Yeah, I’m fine, you weren’t suffocating me too much.” I said with a breathy laugh, Saeran still clung on to me tightly. Jumin tilted his head to one side slightly whilst observing him. He slowly reached out and started stroking his hair. Saeran’s body immediately settled, loosening his hold on me.

“Wow, so Jumin tames the beast.” I said sarcastically. He huffed.

“Hardly a beast.” He said, smiling, still softly ruffling his hair. I kissed him softly on the cheek and Saeran stirred next to me. Jumin moved his hand back as Saeran sat up in the bed. He looked at Jumin, his eyes slightly glazed over.

“Thanks… I was having a weird dream.” He mumbled sleepily. Jumin nodded at him and looked over at the bedside clock.

“Seems we woke up earlier than we needed to.” It was 4am, we didn’t need to get up for another hour. Saeran looked at the clock and immediately flopped back down onto the bed, burying his face into the pillow.

“Coffee…” Jumin said, yawning, slowly getting out of bed. I followed behind him into the kitchen.

“You seemed to be okay with Saeran being here.” I commented.

“He’s a lot more reasonable than Saeyoung… and calm.”

“I suppose that’s true.” I said, laughing softly as Jumin fiddled around with the coffee machine. “I just thought it would be… difficult.”

“Because he killed Jihyun? I have had a long time to get past his loss, or as well as I can anyway. I have heard you talk about what Saeran was like, but it’s hard for me to connect that with who I see now. I wasn’t there, so it’s easier for me to leave it in the past I suppose. The only thing that still upsets me is realising that Jihyun didn’t trust me with his problems. I want to be trustworthy… Maybe I was too judgemental, or not open enough…?” He trailed off in thought, pouring out the coffee.

“There’s a lot we didn’t know about V, and probably never will. I know he was your friend but… he didn’t seem like a good one to me.” Jumin stayed quiet while sorting out the coffee and I sighed, wanting to change the topic.

“So… you want to trust in Saeran’s recovery?” I asked.

“In a sense…” He said, handing me a cup. “I can’t help Jihyun anymore, I know that. But I can help Rika and Saeran, to the best of my ability.” 

“I’m glad.” I said, smiling over the top of my mug. “People will appreciate your empathy.”

“I hope so.” He replied, fiddling with his mug slightly. “I think we need to set up a small party when we get Yoosung back, just for the RFA. I think it would be a positive step to introduce Saeran to everyone.”

“How thoughtful…” I said, trying to smile.

“What’s wrong?”

“I keep thinking… Yoosung isn’t going to be the same, is he?” I asked. Jumin mused with his mug. 

“Yoosung is strong… but the drugs they’ve concocted over the years; they are becoming more powerful.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Saeran mumbled behind me, I turned to see him rubbing his eyes, already dressed. Jumin looked a little awkward, wondering how much Saeran had heard. “They were starting to lose their effectiveness while I was there. Continuously upping the dosage, adding in more random shit they could find. People started to get sick from the alchemist’s experimentation. I have no idea what they could have ended up with by now, having access to more common drugs.” He took the mug from my hand and sipped it, cringing. “How do you drink black coffee? That’s just wrong, seriously.”

“I wouldn’t say I liked coffee, it just has it’s uses.” I said, laughing softly.

“All I’m saying is, don’t trust Yoosung. Even if he looks fine or acts fine.”

“I suppose that’s a reasonable request.” Jumin replied. “I will ask everyone to be wary.” Jumin started messaging everyone via the app. “You might as well go and get ready MC. I will arrange breakfast.” He said, eying Saeran. They both sat down at the table, Saeran continuing to drink my coffee. So much for that I guess.

When I came out of the bedroom, dressed and packed up for a short trip, Jumin was on the phone whilst Saeran sat next to him to the settee playing with Elizabeth and Lisa with his headphones. Jumin looked irritated, though whether it was because Saeran wasn’t using a proper toy or he was simply having an aggravating conversation, was not clear.

When Saeran noticed me enter the room, he reached out for my hand. I let him take my hand and he held onto it gently whilst continuing to play with the cats. I sat down next to him to make it easier for him. Jumin hung up the phone, looking exacerbated and rubbed his hand against his face.

“I’ll get ready now, start breakfast without me.” He said, quickly walking out of the room. I looked at Saeran questioningly.

“Jaehee can’t cover for Jumin and look after two cats. He doesn’t want to leave them with my idiot brother.”

“You’ll be there though…”

“I can’t watch him 24/7.” He replied, laughing. “Saeyoung can’t even make toast without setting something on fire. He’s trying to compromise.”

“Compromise?”

“Saeyoung can feed the cats, but can’t interact with them, blah, blah, blah; I got bored listening to the dramatics.” He gently threw the headphones down for the cats, let go of my hand and stretched his arms above his head. “At least you get to fly in Jumin’s private plane. Twenty-two hours is a long time to be crunched up on a standard flight.”

“True… though Vanderwood never managed to provide us with much back-up. I think one of the older recruits, Ujin is meeting us there, but he’s only going to be providing long-range support.”

“Hmm… He’s not bad, but still.” He gazed off thoughtfully.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After we ate and said goodbye to Saeran we left for the airport. Jumin was still on edge when we got onto the plane.

“Jumin?” I asked. He looked up at me, a slightly dazed expression.

“Hmm?”

“You don’t have to push yourself so hard.”

“I don’t know how to do anything else without feeling useless or like a failure. I really should not be doing this.”

“Very true, putting you in the firing line is a stupid decision, but we were limited and you agreed to it...”

“It made sense at the time. I just keep thinking that we should have waited, tried to intercept them coming back into Korea.”

“I doubt we’d be able to find them in time. They always fade away like ghosts. I don’t know how they do it.”

“Unwavering faith? Seems to cover both their fanatical devotion and resources.”

“I suppose…” I replied, sighing. “What are you worried about exactly?”

“Logistics. How will Rika react? Will we be seen as suspicious? Will Mint Eye throw us off course?”

“We have all the right paperwork. If Rika freaks out, they’ll probably assume she’s having difficulties with the transition. I don’t imagine moving patients is a particularly good idea for recovery.”

“I know it isn’t, but I don’t have a lot of choices left.”

“Why did they send her all the way to Valdez?” I asked.

“A remote location I suppose, and the facility they sent her to is very small and private. It is actually meant for the elderly rather than specifically the mentally ill; a good cover. She receives excellent care, as the facility is still a mental health treatment facility. I believe Yoosung uses a large percentage of his pay check to fund her care. He wouldn’t accept my help.” He replied, a slight huffiness to his tone. 

Jumin didn’t enjoy his motives being questioned by others, as he was a fairly straight-forward person. I had been aware that Yoosung often struggled financially, but I didn’t realise he was paying for such specialised care for Rika. Ever since she was sent away he had been a little more distant from the RFA, but overall, he was still his cheerful self. I wonder if he was suffering more than he let on…

“At least it’s a beautiful location. I wonder if he chose the place because it tries to provide a homelike vibe.”

“Maybe… I don’t know if it helps her recovery exactly, but it might help her to feel a sense of normality, like before all this mess started.” 

Despite being in a private plane, flying is still a very boring experience. I would likely try to sleep for the majority of the journey and Jumin would probably keep working until he needed to sleep. Although we face a 22-hour flight, we would arrive in Valdez at midday the same day we set off from Korea. I hate time zones.


	13. Day Eleven & Twelve: Violence in Valdez

When we arrived at the airport, we tried to quickly rush through border control. It was just after 12pm, and we wanted to get everything over and done with. I looked out of the window whilst Jumin arranged to hire a car. Snow thickly blanketed everything in sight. Whilst it looked beautiful, I hoped we wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time outside on foot with it being about 5°c. 

After a few minutes Jumin returned with the keys to our van and we headed out. The facility was at the base of a mountainous area on the far end of town. The space beyond that was mostly used by hikers who wanted to climb the mountains. It wasn’t too far away from the airport by car, but there were many places that Mint Eye could be hiding on the way or at the location itself.

The car ride was awkwardly silent. Jumin hadn’t had to drive a car himself for years so he was a little rusty, especially driving in such heavy snow. I didn’t want to distract him since he had such a serious expression on his face. I had offered to drive instead but that just seemed to annoy him more.

When we arrived at the facility it was eerily quiet, just like the town had been. We pulled into the small car park that had a few cars and a huge van parked in the spaces. I heard some static on my headset so I called out to Ujin, but I didn’t get a reply. The static came through again, but much louder this time. I looked over at Jumin, concerned, so we slid into the back of the van where the surveillance equipment was set up.

“Everything should be working correctly.” He said, trailing off whilst fiddling with the settings. I kept trying to get in contact with Ujin when I heard familiar voices on the line.

“What the fuck are you doing here?!” Ujin shouted, the audio peaking, making me pull the headset away from my ear.

“I know who you are.” The other voice replied. It sounded like… unknown. But how could Saeran be here?

“Why are you wearing that?”

“Get away from the gun.”

“I’m covering the van you idiot.”

“I know what you’re doing.” The voice mocked. “I didn’t expect it to be you. How long have you been with them, Ujin?”

The line went dead after that. I looked over at Jumin.

“What should we do?” I asked.

“I’m worried we’ll be walking into a trap.” Jumin replied.

“Me too…” We started to consider our options when we heard faraway gunshots. I lent into the front of the van and looked up to where Ujin should have been set up with his rifle but I saw no sign of anyone.

“I’m going in.” I said, about to rush out of the van, when Jumin grabbed my arm.

“And what does that mean exactly?” He asked, clearly concerned and flustered.  
“Don’t worry-” Jumin interrupted me.

“I know you are skilled MC, I am simply asking what you plan to do in there.”

“Oh…” I said awkwardly, expected him to disapprove of my actions. “I’m going to climb in through that window upstairs to see if there’s anyone even in there. Maybe I can sneak Rika out and we can leave.”

“Alright, I’ll cover you from the van. Please, just… get out of there when I say.”

“Agreed.” I replied, slowly opening the left side of the van door. Jumin pulled out the other rifle from a container in the floor of the van. Nothing happened, so I sprung from the van and quickly ran over to the side of the building. I used the drainpipe to pull myself up to the window and managed to pull myself inside, awkwardly sliding down into a large bathtub. I was now sat inside a small bathroom.

I carefully stepped out of the bathtub and slowly opened the door. There was an L shaped hallway in front of me, but it didn’t look promising. The walls were dotted with gunshots ahead of me. On the right side of the hallway, all the doors were open with clothes and bedsheets strewn across the floor. I quickly looked through the bedrooms but no-one was inside. I didn’t see anything around that indicated whose room belonged to whom.

I went down the main hallway and peeked around the side of the wall, where it led to a large landing. There wasn’t anyone there, and more bedrooms appeared to be down the rest of the hallway. I laid down and crawled to the edge of the landing, slid between the gap in the balustrade and slowly peeked down to look into the downstairs entryway. I could see a little office area in front of me. 

There was a man sat at the desk, lazily looking through some files, but he did not look like an employee. I heard a couple of gunshots from outside where I had come in and quickly pulled myself back up to the landing before the man could spot me. I hid in one of the bedrooms nearby and called for Jumin on the com device. His voice came through but it was muffled by the static so I couldn’t understand him. I quickly looked back out of the bathroom window. He no longer appeared to be inside the van.

I heard a shot from downstairs and I quickly rushed over to the landing. The man had left the area, so I ran down to the entryway with my gun in my hands. I walked up to the office and saw several people tied up and gagged, none of them were Rika. I quickly turned the corner and ran straight into Saeran, dressed as unknown.

“Just who I was looking for.” He said, giggling, pulling me to his chest tightly and holding his gun to my head.

“What the fuck, Saeran?” I hissed at him, trying to pull away from him.

“Move it.” He ordered, pulling me along by my waist. He managed to pull me around the corner despite my struggle and the man, who previously sat the desk, was stood there. “Look what I found.” He said.

“Should I put her down?” The man asked.

“Nah, we can use her for later. Tie her up for me.” He said nonchalantly, throwing me against the man. He quickly grabbed me and threw me down on the floor onto my stomach, knocking the air out of me. He tied my hands behind my back, then wrapped my hands up with tape and gagged me with some weird thick Velcro strap. It happened very quickly; he was clearly adept. I tried to struggle out of the bindings and the man began to hold up his hand to slap me when ‘Saeran’ held up his hand.

“Don’t waste the energy.” He said, waving him away. “So, where is the lodge?” He asked.

“It’s up towards the mountain pass, it’s like a little bed and breakfast or something.” The man replied, walking away. Saeran grabbed onto my arm firmly and led me towards the backroom to follow the man. I glared at him, but he didn’t make eye-contact with me. He dumped me on one of the office chairs and walked over to a large desk next to me. “It takes about an hour to walk up there from here.” The arm of the chair was digging into my ribs, I tried to roll off of it, but just ended up falling off the chair and onto my back. I cried out and Saeran looked at me and sighed.

“They’ve got a van outside.” Saeran replied as I tried to catch my breath, again.

“Thank fuck for that. That’ll make it so much easier.” The man sighed, relieved. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re back as well. No one has ever really replaced you in the team.”

“I wouldn’t really say I was on the team.”

“You know what I mean, the group as a whole. Everything ran so much smoothly when you were in charge of infiltration.”

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“I’ve seen a lot of corpses this past year. How are we supposed to save people if we’re killing them before they can be brought to the light?” He asked, lamenting. “I hope the saviour can bring us out of the darkness again.”

“Sounds like Byeong-Cheol is a piece of work.”

“His methods are just more… authoritarian. We were so lost without the saviour. He was the only one who kept us on the right path.” The man replied, clearly admiring this ‘Byeong-Cheol’, despite his grievances. He must have taken over as the leader after Rika was taken away from them.

“Fair enough.” Saeran replied. “Who is caring for the saviour?”

“Eutteum, Chae-Rin and I took over the lodge before we came down here. Ujin was supposed to back us up but… fucking traitor” He spat angrily. “At least we have our legendary Unknown back.” He laughed and Saeran groaned. “Are we bringing her?”

Saeran looked over at me and smirked. “Well I said she would be useful. If not now, she will be later, for me anyway.” The man laughed heartily and rolled up the map on the desk.

“Let’s go then. If the other one comes back I’m sure we’ll make quick work of him.” The man said, heading out of the back entrance.

Saeran pulled me up from the ground by my coat to help me stand up. I immediately kicked out at him and he caught my leg effortlessly. He glared at me. “Stop being a fucking moron.” He mumbled, picking me up and carrying me over his shoulder back to the van.  
I managed to knee him in the back and he stiffened angrily before throwing me down hard into the back of the van; the side of my face slamming against the floor. I groaned in pain as he clambered in behind me and sat down on one of the benches on the side. 

We eventually got to the lodge, it was halfway up a small road leading to the mountainous area, meaning it was freezing and even snowier up here. Saeran flung the door open letting in an icy breeze that chilled me to the bone. He dragged me out of the van by my hood. I fell out of it on my butt into the snow, making me both freezing and wet. The man snickered at me and I glared at him with all my hatred. Saeran jerked me up by my hood making me choke, so I rushed up onto my feet. He pulled me along by my hood towards the lodge and I awkwardly stumbled after him while facing backwards.

The man opened the door and his friends greeted him fondly before pausing when they, presumably, saw Saeran and I.

“Oh my… is that Unknown?” One of them asked like some sort of fangirl, I rolled my eyes, still thankful that I was facing away from them.

“We thought you were taken away too!” A woman added.

“I was just biding my time.” He said smugly, as they fawned over him.

“Who’s that?” The woman asked.

“My prize.” Saeran replied, sneering. The men laughed with him, but the woman remained silent.

“Where’s the saviour?” He asked.

“She’s-” One began before the woman interrupted him.

“How do we know you’re trustworthy? What happened to Ujin?” The woman asked pointedly.

“Don’t worry about it, Rin, Ujin was the traitor! He was going to take me out, but Saeran took him out first!” The man replied. I bristled at the mention on Ujin. What happened to Jumin? It sounded like he was still alive at least, based upon the man’s conversation with Saeran earlier.

“I guess we’ll see what the Lord says.” She replied.

“Oh, come on Rin, this bitch doesn’t mean anything to me.” Saeran said in an amorous tone.

“I- that’s not…” She scrambled, probably swooning and blushing like an idiot. Saeran laughed softly and seemed to diffuse the situation. “A-anyway!” She said loudly, clearing her throat “You can put her upstairs in one of the spare rooms we’re not using.”

“How about you take her Jae-Won? I know I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.” Saeran suggested.

“Sure.” He replied, dragging me upstairs by the arm. He pulled me past the other rooms and threw me inside the closest one, locking me inside afterwards. He quickly rushed back downstairs. I couldn’t hear the conversation but I could hear them all laughing occasionally. I guess they’re such great friends. I rolled my eyes and flopped down on the large double bed in the room, trying to get comfortable with my arms still tied behind my back. I was furious.  
I was furious.

How did I let him trick me? Why did I believe him?

Is he just fucking with me, or is this real?

If it was just a ploy, he’s got a funny way of fucking showing it.

I laid there for hours, presumably, until I heard them all coming upstairs. I hadn’t been able get out of my bindings or take off the strap around my mouth since my fingers were taped up, but I had managed to move my hands to the front of me so I could get around better. No-one came to my room but I heard the door next to mine open. 

I could hear the woman giggling and Saeran’s voice being muffled by the wall between us. I leaned closer to try and hear their conversation when I heard the woman moan loudly. I cringed and rolled off the bed entirely to escape to the other side of the room to the window seat, but she was so LOUD.

It became quiet after a while and the room I was in had become pitch black. I could still see the beautiful view from outside at least, since the curtains had been left open. I leant against the window and sighed. I never should have left Jumin’s side.

At some point during the night, I heard my door quietly unlock and open. I had just started to finally fall asleep. I turned towards the door slowly to see Saeran; carefully closing the door behind himself. I glared at him, still unable to speak, but I doubt he could see my face in this light anyway.

He looked at me curiously, like he couldn’t decide if I acknowledged his existence or not. He crept closer and closer until I could feasibly reach him. I quickly leapt forward and smashed my hands against his face. I caught him off guard, but he supressed his pain perfectly. He put his hands on my shoulders and forced me to sit back down on the window seat. He kept his hands there and searched my face.

“You hate me, don’t you?” He whispered. I nodded. He grinded his teeth in frustration. “That’s alright for now.” He said and I looked at him confused. “Don’t worry about it.” He said casually, patting my head. So, he is fucking with me? Prick. “Good work on the binding.” He mumbled, rubbing his face where I hit him. I gestured to my mouth. “Will you be good?” He asked, sarcastically. 

He quickly pulled the strap down and kissed my lips roughly. His breath smelled of cigarettes and alcohol. He quickly broke away pulled the strap back over my mouth. My cheeks burned and I threw myself at him in anger, knocking us both to the floor. He reacted quickly, rolling up onto his knees in one fluid motion before straddling my waist and holding my hands above my head. 

“We don’t have times for games, MC.” He slurred, mocking me. 

I am going to kill him. What the fuck is wrong with him? I glared up at him. He stroked my cheek softly and I flinched, turning my face away from him. He looked at me sympathetically and lowered the strap again, allowing me to talk.

“I do fucking hate you.” I hissed at him quietly, but venomously. He sighed, pulled the strap back over my mouth and left the room, locking it behind him. I slowly crawled up onto the bed and eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up fairly early, the bright light streaming through the windows. Fucking curtains. I could hear people talking in hushed voices, a car door opening and closing, and the sound of someone moving things around. 

I sat up on the bed and my head swam dizzily from a terrible headache. My body ached. It was quiet in the house. I looked outside, and the town seemed to be continuing as normal, though I couldn’t exactly see the facility from this angle. 

If Jumin was still out there, I’d have thought he would have called the police by now. My phone was still nestled in the inside pocket of my coat, but I couldn’t use it with my hands like this. The tape was too thick to gnaw away at and too tacky to peel away from my skin with only my teeth. 

My door opened suddenly, and Jae-Won strode in holding his head in his hand. I think he was hung-over. He didn’t say anything to me, but he dragged me out of the room by my arm and pulled me into the room that Rika was in. She looked startled by him barging in and then looked at me confused, like she couldn’t quite remember my face. He rushed back out of the room again. 

I went over to the window in Rika’s room and could see the van being packed up with stuff from the lodge. Rika had also been dressed in a thick fur coat with big walking boots. I guess we were leaving soon. 

I scoffed to myself when I realised that he’d left the door unlocked. I rapidly became both excited and anxious. I locked eyes at Rika and pointed at my mouth. She looked worried, but slowly moved closer and hesitantly pulled the strap down from my mouth.

“Thank you.” I said, smiling weakly. She nodded slightly and smiled back. “I can help you get out of here, Rika.” I said. She gasped and moved back a little. She looked a little fuzzy, but the prospect of leaving seemed to wake her.

“R-really?” She asked.

“Yes, you’ve just got to trust me and do what I say, okay?” I asked. “Can you undo the tape from my hands?” She nodded again and carefully unravelled the tape, looking upset when I flinched from having some small hairs pulled out from my skin. I flexed my fingers when she was done and smiled, feeling relieved. She also manged to quickly undo my bindings. My hands were stiff and tacky from the tape and my wrists looked raw and painful, but I couldn’t let that stop us.

“Let’s go.” I said and we moved towards the door. I opened it slowly and peeked my head around the edge of the door. Jae-Won had gone. I carefully grabbed hold of Rika’s hand and led her out of the room. She followed me obediently. Perhaps she didn’t want to be here either? I carefully closed the door and heard someone rummaging around in one of the rooms down the hall, so I quickly rushed us towards the stairs.

We slowly crept down the stairs. They creaked slightly on the way, but the whole lodge creaked on its own all the time, so no one paid much attention to it. I was about to reach for the door when I saw Rin turn around the corner. She hesitated, stunned to see us standing there, but I had already reacted. I punched her square in the face and she stumbled back from the force. I quickly stepped around her and wrapped my arm around her neck to choke her from behind. Rika looked at me, horrified, but silent. I waited until she had lost consciousness before swiftly stuffing her in a closet space.

I opened the back door with the one of the sets of keys on the key rack and I stepped outside of the lodge. I held out my hand to Rika. She hesitated slightly, but then grabbed onto my hand with her full enthusiasm.

“We’re going to need to run to that tree line okay?” I asked, pointing a mile or so ahead of us. “We might be able to lose them in the forest.”

“Okay...” She whispered quietly, squeezing my hand tightly. We broke out into as much of a run as possible, given how much snow there was, and made a steady pace towards the trees. I could hear Rika panting heavily, not used to the exercise, but she tried her best not to slow us down too much.

We eventually broke the tree line and I pulled her a little further to hide behind a tree to catch our breath.

“St-Stay here for a minute.” I said, breathing heavily. I didn’t have any signal on my phone and my com device wasn’t working at all. I sighed; I expected as much. 

I pulled the gun out of the hidden pocket in my massive winter coat. Rika looked surprised.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just a precaution. I’ve never actually used a gun before.” I laughed, softly. She smiled back, weakly. Rika largely blended in with the snow, wearing white fur and white boots, but all my clothes were black. If needs be, I’d leave her to hide in the snow.

“Are you… taking me back to Korea too?” She asked me. My eyes widened, a little surprised by her starting a conversation.

“Yes, I plan to, as well as Jumin Han. You remember him, right?”

“Jumin…” She said sadly, before her eyes widened and snapped up to my face. “You’re that girl that was with Saeyoung right? I thought I recognised you.”

“Yeah, I’m with the RFA too.” I replied, smiling softly.

She looked at the gun in my hands.

“You might as well just kill me.” She began, quietly. I looked a little taken-aback but she continued anyway. “I won’t be treated back in Korea. I’ll live in a hospital forever, forgotten; no-one cares about us. And even if they do let me out, what life will I have? No one will want to employ me, if they find out I’m ‘crazy’ I’ll just be quietly ‘let go’. And if I complain about it, they’ll say I’m acting crazy. Why do you think I gave up? It was so much easier to believe that all I needed to get better was Jihyun… and look what I’ve become. I can already feel myself slipping away. I haven’t been able to take my medication since they came for me.” 

In a way, Rika was right. Saeran was lucky that Saeyoung wanted to help him so desperately, shouldering some of the burden, thus allowing him to quickly become an outpatient. There aren’t adequate community services even if you are released, so you need someone who’s really dedicated to keep you on track. Chronic patients can remain in an inpatient facility for their entire life because their families don’t want to take on their care. It’s easier to just lock them away. Less effort and stress for them; and less scandal upon the family. Plus, if people stay locked away, the hospital makes more money, so they want to keep them around as well. 

Saeran calmed down a lot after the toll the drugs had passed, mostly having issues with controlling his emotions, or so the official report states. I am not so sure anymore. Rika was far more complicated, however. She would always need to be medicated, she would always need support in case something environmental exacerbated her symptoms. I could understand the burden she felt by simply existing. With how things went with V’s ‘care’, she probably struggles to trust anyone to support her.

“No one deserves to die.” I said, defiantly. I might understand why Vanderwood would want me to kill Rika, but I’d never want to do it and I still don’t. She deserves better, just like everyone else.

“Generally, I’m fully medicated. I see things more clearly than I ever could and still… I’m unhappy. When I’m awake, all I can think about is everything I’ve done and when I close my eyes… all I see is Jihyun… lying there. It’s all my fault. Saeran… did I make him that way?” She asked rhetorically.

“It wasn’t just you, Rika. You were suffering and V… just watched you. He allowed you to do all these things and he pushed everyone else way who could have helped you and supported you because he thought he could fix everything by lying. He asked everyone to have absolute trust in him, yet he didn’t trust anyone with the truth. I don’t even know if he really cared to be honest.” Rika looked away from me, off into the distance.

“I don’t know either…” She whispered. “I don’t think anyone really knew the real Jihyun, even me.” 

“V aside; the RFA is like a family… and they don’t just leave someone behind.” I said, gently putting my hand on top of hers. I wanted to move the conversation on from V. He left behind a black hole, and I didn’t want to be sucked into it as well. I knew him the least out of everyone. “Yoosung and Zen went to so much trouble to get you the best care… Do you really think they’d do that if they thought you were a monster? I told them about what had really happened… I couldn’t criticise V’s mistakes and then allow everyone to repeat them. And you know what? We still had to convince Zen, for hours, to tell us where you were.”

“They don’t hate me…?” She asked, surprised.

“They wouldn’t believe me straight away… but eventually, they accepted it. It was hard for them to hear, but they still thought helping you first was the priority. They didn’t want you to waste away in a hospital, or in prison.”

“I see… I’m grateful for that at least.” She said quietly, a hint of a smile. “Did Yoosung not need convincing, then?”

“It’s more accurate to say we couldn’t ask him. They’ve… taken him. Mint Eye has taken on an entirely different form since you were there.” She looked slightly panicked, but managed to calm herself down a little with breathing exercises.

“You need to find him. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me.” She whimpered. I gently squeezed her hand, she seemed to appreciate the gesture. “We were happy, once. Finally, we were accepted. Mint Eye… I wondered what would happen. Everything became more and more violent in the name of… protection, helping people and cleansing people. I can barely remember… how much of it was real and what was in my head. I thought I… was helping them and they believed me, worshiped me… encouraged me… manipulated me.” She held her head in her hands. “I can’t go back there. I don’t know what they’ll do to me; I don’t want to feel myself lose my mind again.”

“We’re not going to let that happen.” I promise.

In the distance, I could hear the roar of a snowmobile. I peeked around the corner and I saw it approaching the trees, followed by the much slower van.

“Fuck.” I mumbled under my breath. “We’re going to need to run again.” I said to Rika. She slowly stood up.

“Alright.” She replied and we ran north-east through the trees. 

We eventually ran to a clearing and the sounds of vehicles became louder. I knew I would have to face them now, to at least take the chance to steal their vehicle. I led Rika over to a small snow mound and told her to stay behind it no matter what. I stood in the middle of the clearing, away from where Rika was hiding. 

A snowmobile burst into the clearing first and the man pulled up close to me and quickly jumped off. I moved away from him and pointed my gun at him. He held up his hands. 

“MC, it’s me.” Jumin. I was about to run back over to him when the van suddenly sped through the clearing, separating me from Jumin. I had to dive out of the way to avoid the van, landing heavily in the snow. I heard the van doors slam shut and felt myself being pulled up by my coat.

My eyes met with Saeran’s. He wrapped his arm around my waist and held the gun to my head, again. My own gun had been thrown to the ground somewhere. He pulled me around the other side of the van to stand next to Jae-Won, who was pointing a gun at Jumin.

“Where’s the saviour?” Jae-Won asked Jumin. Saeran pulled me slowly towards Jumin.

“I don’t know.” He replied bluntly, eyeing Saeran suspiciously.

“I will kill your little girlfriend.” Jae-Won said menacingly.

“I’m telling you the truth, she was the only one here when I got here.” He replied. Jae-Won groaned in frustration and started waving his gun around crazily. Saeran watched him carefully.

“You know, don’t you, MC.” Saeran said plainly, his breath tickling my cheek. Jae-Won turned to me and started stalking towards us, his gun now pointed down towards the floor.

“So, what do you have to say?” Jae-Won half-shouted at me. Only a few feet away now.

Saeran suddenly pushed me towards Jumin and snapped his gun up to shoot Jae-Won in the head. 

A perfect shot. Jumin turned away from the shot in surprise, and I stumbled, half falling back into the snow. I looked over at Saeran who was lightly smattered with blood across the front of his body including his face. I could see he was slightly shaking, but less so than the last time. He threw the gun to the ground and turned away from Jae-Won’s body.


	14. Day Twelve: Time

“The other’s will likely be set up back at the lodge, I mean we can try just driving past it, but they might start firing if we keep driving away.” Saeran said.

“We need to stop somewhere.” Jumin replied coolly, gesturing at Saeran’s bloody form.

“You don’t want to stop at the lodge… we’re best being as far away from that as we can.”

I tuned out their thinly veiled argument. I couldn’t stand hearing his voice anymore. I was bundled in the back of the van with Rika whilst Jumin and Saeran were sat in the front. She hadn’t spoken since seeing the red against the snow. There wasn’t really a way to stop her from seeing it. Despite what I had said, she immediately jumped up from her hiding spot after hearing the gunshot. Now she resembled a ghost.

It didn’t take long to reach the vicinity of the lodge. Apparently, we were stopping. At least we weren’t shot on sight, yet. Saeran immediately left the van and entered the lodge. Jumin sighed and turned to look at us from the front seat.

“Do you want to wait here?” He asked.

“What are you doing?” I questioned in return.

“I want to check for any leftover data. Saeran is… cleaning himself up. Luckily there isn’t anything on the van too.” I paused whilst considering it and sighed.

“Alright.” I replied, clambering out of the van. “Will you be alright on your own?” I asked Rika. She didn’t reply and just kept staring at the floor. I closed the door on her quietly and Jumin locked the van just in case.

It was quiet when we entered. Saeran was waiting for us in the lobby, still blood smattered, leant against the reception desk. Jumin approached, but still kept a reasonable distance away from him.

“They don’t appear to be here any longer, lucky you.” He said to Jumin, dryly. “I didn’t expect them to run.”

“How did they even know to leave?” He asked.

“Fuck knows. Jae-Won didn’t mention anything about meeting up elsewhere.”

“Maybe he didn’t suck your dick as hard as you thought.” I said, stomping off into the backroom, angrily rifling through files. I heard Jumin sigh.

“Go get cleaned up and… deal with the evidence. You can help us look around after.” Jumin said. Saeran grunted in response and I heard him walking upstairs. There wasn’t anything of interest back here. It was all just related to the lodge. I heard Jumin enter behind me.

“MC?” He asked, cautiously.

“Hmm?” I replied, whilst busing myself looking through the files.

“I’m going to go back to the facility with Rika, to explain what happened… vaguely. We’ll never leave Alaska with a missing person in tow without implicating ourselves. I’d rather this was dealt with legally.”

“Agreed.” I said, bluntly.

“Which means you will check into a hotel in town with Saeran.” He said, quickly.

“Excuse me?” I asked, venomously.

“I don’t know how long it’ll take for this to be resolved and I need to call Stark. Plus, I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. I haven’t slept since the flight.” He sighed, rubbing his face with his hands.

“Really?” I asked, turning to look at him properly for the first time. He looked pale, his eyes dark and his clothes dishevelled. I hadn’t had chance to ask him what he’d been doing in the meantime.

“Saeran ran into me when he went into the building. He said he knew who was inside and could worm his way back into the cult to retrieve Rika without issue. He did not tell me he was taking you or MY van until I saw him throw you into the back. I received no contact from him until hours later, telling me to meet him up at the lodge in the morning. The snowmobile was the only thing I could acquire with such short notice.” He explained, lifelessly.

“You didn’t stay in a hotel?” I asked.

“I was being interrogated in the police station.” He said, flatly. “I went back to the building to help everyone inside, called the police, and had to explain my whole life story to the police in the process, for HOURS. I managed to convince them that my associate had gone to find Rika, therefore I need to return with her, so I do not, at best, get arrested.” He groaned.

“I’m… sorry Jumin.” I whispered. His face softened immediately.

“Do not apologise. I can see you have hardly had a good time either.” He replied, carefully caressing my cheek. I had not realised it had bruised. I probably look like a wreck myself.

“I guess I could do with a shower…” I mumbled, remembering the running I had done in my large coat.

“That’s the spirit.” He smiled, lightly pressing a kiss to my lips. “I am not by any means excusing what has happened during this trip, and I feel terrible for asking you this of you; but we need to work together to figure out what they are planning. I’m going to check the rooms upstairs, alright?” He asked.

“Okay; I’ll accept that. We’ll talk about it all later.” I confirmed, before Jumin excused himself.

We didn’t find much of interest besides Jae-Won’s fake documentation, still sitting on the table in the lounge area alongside a bunch of expertly cleaned bottles of alcohol and other glassware. The documents were flawless, which might help Vanderwood to figure out who had made them. Not many people can make false documents look this good. We carefully copied them on the photocopier in the office and put the originals back where we had found them.

Saeran said they had likely left the documents behind in case he didn’t come back, implicating him in multiple crimes; kidnapping, perhaps the murder of Ujin, and whatever other criminal activities were involved when taking over the lodge. He also said the fancy glassware was likely some of the drugs made by the cult, but they were completely scrubbed clean.

Rika was still in the same place when we returned to the van together, thankfully. Saeran drove us back into town as Jumin’s formal demeanour was slowly starting to crack, due to exhaustion.

“So, how did you know those… people?” Jumin asked, yawning.

“Jae-Woo and Chae-Rin were originally involved in welcoming and caring for new members, but eventually they became infiltrators. Rin in more of a commanding position due to her military background. I helped them find marks, so I worked fairly closely with them. Eutteum was a new recruit that Jae-Woo doted on, like a younger sibling; I didn’t know him that well.”

“Why did it change?” He asked quietly, eyeing Rika. She didn’t seem to be paying attention to anything in the vicinity.

“Couple of people always want more. Human greed, I suppose. They wanted to use the cult to serve their own ends and by that point she was being shouted down, like a revolt from underneath her. Heard a few older members talking about an ancient prophesy or some bullshit, but they still held her in such high esteem that I didn’t see it as a threat at the time.”

“Sounds… concerning.” Jumin grumbled as we pulled up to the police station. Jumin slid out of the front and carefully helped Rika out of the back. “I’ll call as soon as I’m done.” Jumin said to me. I nodded glumly and they walked into the station, leaving Saeran and I alone in the van.

“I take it you’re staying back there?” He asked. When I did not reply, he sighed and started to drive towards one of the hotels in the vicinity.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I stood at the far corner of the lobby as Saeran booked two rooms at a small and cosy-feeling bed and breakfast. I, however, felt nothing close to cosy. The receptionist kept looking at me with concern, my face likely mirroring a storm. Saeran flicked his eyes over to me.

“Ah don’t mind her, it’s just the jet lag!” He laughed, the woman behind the counter chuckling in relief. I scowled, feeling embarrassed. She handed him some room keys and he waved me over. I reluctantly followed behind him as he went to check out the rooms.

When we entered the room, Saeran bolted the door and immediately turned around to face me. I quickly slapped him as hard as I could muster across the cheek where I had hit him before. He growled, cursing and I lifted my hand to hit him again. He grabbed my wrists and shoved me against the wall, pinning me. I nearly headbutted him in the face, but he dodged out of the way.

I considered an assault with my legs, but he must have predicted my reaction because he kicked one of my legs out from underneath me, making me overbalance and fall into his arms. I was unable to support myself; completely at his mercy. However, he didn’t retaliate, he simply slid us both down to the floor, straddling my waist and holding my wrists firmly, but painlessly, down against the ground.

His eyes bored into mine and I wanted to flinch away, but he held my face in place with his hand under my chin, using the other to hold both of my wrists down with little effort. How was he so strong?

“Do you honestly think I enjoyed it?” He asked, deadpan. His face contorting into an emotionless mask. I forget how similar he and Saeyoung are at times.

“You definitely enjoyed something.” I managed to splutter out at him, remembering Chae-Rin. He grimaced.

“I enjoyed nothing.” He whispered, pained, his face an inch away from my own. His eyes searched my face for any sort of expression. I was so angry at him, and yet, he was making me feel… guilty? Am I just an idiot?

“That doesn’t change anything.” I mumbled, defiantly. “You couldn’t trust me with the truth? I’m trained in deception. You threw me around like a ragdoll!” He sighed.

“I know. Under normal circumstances... but they aren’t normal people, MC. One slip, and they… they would have killed you!” He whispered, exacerbated. His face slowly twisted under the mask, edging closer to despair.

“That doesn’t justify it Saeran…” I whispered, my eyes watering.

“I know it doesn’t…” He sobbed, looking away from me.

“We… just need… time.” I offered, pathetically, unsure of what to say. He looked so vulnerable. I didn’t know how to deal with these heavy emotions. I wasn’t even sure what to think of my own. If our lives finally calmed down, it really would be good for him; for all of us.

“You always say that MC, how much of this mystical time exists in your universe?” He spat, instantly regretting it when he saw my scowl. “I knew this would happen. I knew I would make you hate me, again…” He mumbled, while caressing the sides of my face with his thumbs, running them along my cheekbones.

“I’ve always meant what I said about time. You haven’t spent five minutes away from all this… mess other than your stay in the hospital.”

“How can I stay away when the only time I ever see you is if I throw myself into the fire?”

“I can’t step away from this now, Saeran.”

“Then neither can I.” He growled, before hungrily pressing his lips against mine. I gasped into his mouth and he tightened his grip on my wrists. I jerked my face to the side to break the kiss and he slowly sat back up.

“I’m sorry… I know I shouldn’t do that.” He whispered, gently releasing my wrists. I rolled my wrists and flexed my fingers. I could feel my emotions bubbling to the surface. I was slipping far too easily in Saeran’s embrace for either of our sanities to process coherently.

“No, you shouldn’t, but I am not blameless in this.” I began quickly, feeling my words staring to slip out rapidly and thoughtlessly, panicked. “Back at Jumin’s… I let it go to far. I got too comfortable too quickly, and it’s not fair on you when I know how you feel. Even Jumin was so comfortable… false sense of security, I guess? But he doesn’t know-” Saeran interrupted me by placing his hand gently on my cheek. He stared into my eyes.

“MC… It’s alright. I know I’m overwhelming you. I thought if I just poured everything onto you then everything would work out. Then I saw that it was too much, and I backed away. But I backed so far away that I became the last thing on your mind.” He slowly ran his fingers through my hair. “I know I’m impatient about time, but I know we both need it. I promise I’ll… go at whatever speed you need from now on.” He slowly rose to his feet and pulled me to mine.

“Thank you, Saeran.” I said, finally smiling at him.

His hands lingered on my back, not wanting to let me go, but he kept them light, knowing that he should. Finally, I decided to step away from him. It hurt us both to do so, but it was for the best.

“I’ll be glad when we are home.” I mumbled, changing the subject now we had cleared the air.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” He replied.

“What do you mean?”

“Their main force is at home. It’s not exactly a welcome relief.”

“They’re becoming more reckless.”

“That is what worries me, MC. We haven’t heard much from the others, and now mint eye knows that I’m still here. I’ve given up the only advantage I had.”

“You still have the knowledge-”

“Of an old time; ran by someone with restraint and good intentions. Byeong-Cheol is not someone you want to meet. Everything fucked up when he turned up.”

“Who is he anyway?” I asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Saeran joined me.

“From what I could find, he had something to do with the military, and by military, I can only imagine it was the super fucked up stuff that gets buried by the government. He brought that edge to Mint Eye, and as you can imagine, it wasn’t pretty.”

“Why would he be interested in Mint Eye? Did he have a grudge against the government?”

“Perhaps…” He began, thoughtfully. “But I think he was always against the government. Tried to push their buttons when he was in the military; always sanctioning orders they wouldn’t have agreed with. He’s lucky that he always produced results, or they’d have locked him away and thrown away the key long ago.”

“So, he helped them despite hating them?”

“I think he made sure it was benefitting him the most. Though… he always held the saviour in high regard. Obsessed with her really; on a whole other level. The closer he got to her the further I was pushed away. I don’t know what he was interested in.”

“Was it the ancient prophecy stuff you mentioned earlier?”

“Oh, so you were listening.” He smirked. “More than likely, though I don’t remember that much about it. It happened towards the end of my time there and most of the old people were a part of the ‘inner circle’ that he had formed to dictate Rika. They didn’t really want me around.”

“Would Rika remember?”

“Maybe. Although, he was ploughing her with drugs at that time. When I… when V died, that was the most focused I had seen her in months.” He lamented. I took his hand and gently squeezed it. He smiled softly, gazing at the carpet.

“How long do you think they will be?” I asked.

“Who knows, Jumin is technically mixed up in a criminal investigation. I don’t know if his status or money will do much on foreign ground. Plus, even if they just let him go, the police or the centre might not allow us to take her back home with us. It all looks too suspicious…”

Saeran and I spent most of the rest of the day together, in relative silence, mostly looking at all the touristy stuff whilst we were here. Saeran had never been out of South Korea before, yet he had still managed to smuggle his way out of the country with Saeyoung’s fake travel documents and a pair of coloured contact lenses. While we didn’t talk that much, he seemed to enjoy just watching the water and looking at the natural environment; it was probably the closest he had come to the countryside in some time. We might have wanted to spend more ‘normal’ time with each other, but we didn’t seem to know what we were meant to do in these situations anymore. We didn’t have anything to talk about other than Mint Eye, as that was all I had been focused on since he last saw me. All he would have been able to talk about was Saeyoung, or the work he had been doing under Vanderwood. I might have said that Saeran needed time to find himself again, but the reality was, that I needed to as well; and I didn’t know where to start.

After a while I realised I wouldn’t be back in time to pick up Hae after her exams. I had planned to pick her up… technically tomorrow based on Korean time. I was supposed to leave Alaska yesterday, and I would waste most of another day just getting back home, so I likely wouldn’t be back in time.

Saeran and I had gone back to the hotel as it was getting late, meaning it was slowly getting colder and colder. He was sprawled out on the bed while drawing on the guest notepad. I pulled out my phone and considered who to ask. Jaehee or Zen. Both busy people. Both too… normal to be involved in something like this. I suppose I could also ask Saeyoung. I know he can be serious when he needs to be.

I opened the RFA app, realising I had missed a million messages. I used to often chat in the messenger; but the chat rooms aren’t exactly conducive for espionage work. Zen and Jaehee were online at least. It was 5pm here, meaning it was 10am the next day in Korea.

MC: Hello all! Is anyone busy tomorrow? Sorry in advance for the short notice.

Jaehee: Hello MC. I have a lot of meetings tomorrow, so it would depend on the request.

Zen: MC! I actually have the day off tomorrow! (wow)

MC: Good for you Zen, I would feel bad taking up your rest time.

MC: Ah, it’s okay Jaehee you don’t need to push yourself.

Jaehee: I would still like to hear the request.

Zen: Don’t worry about me MC, I always feel lost without any work to do.

MC: Well… I need someone to pick up my younger sister after the CSATs and then make sure no-one finds her until I get back.

Zen: …

Zen: That sounds ominous MC.

MC: I need to protect her from my family. I can’t go into the details of it right now, but I will say that they seem to be tied up in whatever is going on with Mint Eye. She’s scared, and I promised I would pick her up after the exam, but I won’t be back in time.

Jaehee: I can provide non-descript transportation if you are able to make it Zen.

Zen: I’ll do my best MC, what do I need to do?

MC: I’ll send her a message to meet you at the station close to the school. All you need to do is pick her up and look after her until I get back. I should be back in the afternoon or the day after the exam.

Zen: Is it really okay to look after her in my apartment?

-Saeyoung has joined the chat room-

Jaehee: You could always bring her to my apartment after I am done at work.

Saeyoung: You can bring her to the bunker if you’d prefer. I can do my job at home for the time being, and it’s the safest place.

It was a difficult decision. It would be more appropriate to leave Hae with Jaehee, but she would be busy most of the time and wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on her or protect her. Saeyoung would be the best option for safety, but he’s a completely useless human being. At least Hae could make sure the cats are being treated properly.

MC: The bunker would be the best place. I’m not sure how serious the situation is yet and I don’t want anyone’s home to be targeted.

Saeyoung: The bunker is my home!

MC: It would be more accurate to call it a trash heap.

Zen: LOL

Saeyoung: That just hurts my feelings (crys)

Jaehee: Anyway, I will send you the transportation details soon Zen.

Zen: Thanks Jaehee!

Jaehee: No problem.

MC: Thank you for all the help guys, I owe you one! Please update me on what’s happening, I’ll do my best to get in touch.

Zen: Don’t worry about it!

Saeyoung: I’ll let you know as soon as she’s safe in the bunker.

Jaehee: Goodbye everyone. I will speak to you soon.

MC: Bye Jaehee!

-Jaehee left the chatroom-

Zen: I’ll be going now too. Bye-bye everyone!

MC: Bye-bye Zen!

-Zen left the chatroom-

Saeyoung: MC, how is everything going? This is the first time I’ve heard from any of you.

MC: Sorry, everything became chaotic very quickly. We’re all fine, but the operation didn’t go as smoothly as we hoped.

Saeyoung: I thought as much since you’re still there! I’m surprised Jumin didn’t even call me.

MC: No one has really had the time…

Saeyoung: I was so worried about you all! Saeran has been missing since you guys left!

MC: He’s here with us.

Saeyoung: (Huh?) What? Are you serious?!

MC: He wouldn’t tell me how he got here but he followed us anyway…

Saeyoung: Is he okay? What happened?

MC: He kind of helped and didn’t help at the same time…

Saeyoung: What is that supposed to mean?

MC: Can’t you talk to him rather than grilling me about it?

Saeyoung: Fine, later MC.

-Saeyoung left the chat room-

I groaned and flopped down on the bed next to Saeran. He quickly stopped what he was doing and started petting my head lightly.

“I wouldn’t get comfortable if I were you…” I whispered before his phone started ringing. He gave me a strange look before rolling away to reach for his phone.

“Really MC, you just had to snitch on me to my brother, didn’t you?” He asked, already aggravated before he had even spoken to Saeyoung. I giggled to myself as I heard Saeyoung’s raised voice from Saeran’s phone. I then remembered to quickly send the details along to Hae and put her in contact with Jaehee for the time being. Jaehee could handle it from here.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jumin and Rika had been gone for hours. I wanted to call him find out what was happening, but I would only implicate myself in the incident. Jumin did not return until late in the afternoon. He looked so uncharacteristically bedraggled. On one hand it was concerning, on the other hand it was slightly hilarious. Or at least it was, until I realised he was alone.

“Where’s-” I began before he cut me off with his hand.

“Short answer, we cannot take her home until tomorrow morning. I do not wish to discuss the details right now. I am irritable, I need food and I need a whole days’ worth of sleep.” He listed off, sounding exhausted. We quickly went out for dinner; before he ate us alive.


	15. Day Twelve & Thirteen: Loose Ends

This was possibly the most ‘unhinged’ I had ever seen Jumin in my life.  His hair was dishevelled, his clothes were dishevelled, and his expression bordered on murderous as we witnessed Jumin shovelling food into his mouth.  Saeran’s face was plastered with a permanent smirk that he kept covering up with his hand while I had tried to keep mine blank.  But the look of horror on my face kept breaking through.

 

It wouldn’t look like much to anyone else in the establishment, maybe just a messy eater if anything, but for Jumin, it was a complete 180.  After he had devoured half of his meal, he looked visibly more relaxed and calm.  That was until he looked up our faces and his cheeks drifted into a red hue of shame.

 

“I apologise-” He began formally, before I cut him off.

 

“Jumin it’s fine-” I began, before he cut me off in return.

 

“No, no, I am being rude-” He started to apologise, before Saeran burst into loud hearty laughter.  Jumin grumbled to himself and ran his hand through his hair in frustration.  People had begun to look over at our table to witness Saeran’s crazed laughter.

 

“This is the most normal I’ve ever seen you.” Saeran smiled sardonically, trying to calm himself down.

 

“You have barely ever seen me.” Jumin replied, clearly irritated, while he fiddled with his left cufflink.

 

“That says more about you than me.” Saeran quipped, with a quick wink in my direction.  I scoffed quietly behind my hand and took a sip from my drink to stop myself from laughing.  Jumin quietly groaned and rubbed his hand through his hair, again, in frustration.

 

“If I ever insert myself into fieldwork again, please just shoot me and put me out of my misery.” Jumin mumbled, while grimacing.  Tiredness ebbed from him in spades, I almost felt guilty for revelling in a side of Jumin I had never seen before.  _Almost._

 

“It could have been worse…” I offered feebly, trying not to laugh or bruise his ego even more.

 

“I regret ever complaining about my job.” He scoffed, sarcastically, while motioning the waitress for the bill.

 

“I take it you won’t be coming anymore missions with me then?” I laughed softly, while gently brushing my fingers against his knee under the table.

 

“I would say it was unlikely…” He murmured, his cheeks slightly pink from the contact.

 

“Yeah, I don’t blame you.”  I smiled at him, feeling both elated and dismayed.  The job didn’t really suit Jumin’s sensibilities, but I had enjoyed having him around during the travel nonetheless.

 

“So… what exactly happened?” Saeran asked as we started to rise from the table.

 

“I will explain in the van.” Jumin replied wearily, before walking away to pay for our meal.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Well, as you know, there were three problems.”  Jumin began with a sigh.  I had a feeling we were in for a long ride… 

 

“The facility had been infiltrated, Rika had disappeared, and your ‘friends’ took over the lodge.” Jumin began, addressing Saeran.  He only grimaced in response.  “I was the only person they had found who could be linked to at least the first two criminal instances.  They did not know about the third until I returned to the station.  So far, they haven’t been able to link me to the lodge, but since everything happened in the same period of time, it all understandably looks connected.  None of the witnesses knew anything about the incident, but they were worried she had been taken as she wasn’t tied up with them.  I said that we had found her wandering around town and picked her up.

 

"Thankfully, Rika isn’t really speaking, which is consistent with her condition, and she is known to wander away from the facility, so they believed she could have just ran away in fear during the incident.  They’re still investigating the incident, but it appears they have ruled me out as a suspect.  However, they still want to speak with you MC, since you were there, to confirm your story corroborates with mine.”  Jumin explained, while Saeran drove us back to the hotel.  He had tried to keep it as to the point as possible, which both I and Saeran seemed to appreciate.

 

“What do I need to say?” I asked, already feeling the incoming headache.

 

“That we came to pick Rika up, I went inside, and you waited in in the van.  There appeared to be an incident at the facility.  When I looked inside, only the other residents and staff were there all tied up.  I stayed to call the police and told you to look for Rika, who had apparently been taken away, but due to the knowledge of her condition, I had been worried she could have panicked and ran away.  You were concerned she could be lost, alone and cold somewhere, so you rushed out in the hopes of finding her in the town.  You happened to find her this morning, huddled in the doorway outside someone’s house.  You took her to get warm and to have something to eat, then we met back up and I took her to the station immediately after.”

 

“That’s a long story…” I sighed, wishing I had taken notes or something.

 

“As long as you take your time to explain, you should be fine.”  He smiled softly, trying to reassure me.  “I think they just want us to be out of the way at this point.  They’re very concerned and focused on the ‘real’ incident.  Luckily for us, they seem to believe that Rika was just conveniently a nuisance.  They have had a few incidents with lost patients in the past, so they think she just took the opportunity to escape.  They apologised for keeping me for so long, but they didn’t have any leads to follow at all.”

 

“Maybe they’ll believe it was all just one big prank…” Saeran suggested, trying to lighten the mood.

 

“Hah, if only.  Those people were threatened with guns and were taken hostage.  Quite a big incident for such a quiet place.”  Jumin sighed.  He seemed to cheer up a little bit at least.

 

“Were they not concerned that you had rented a snowmobile?” I asked, my eyebrows raising in confusion.

 

“I didn’t exactly rent it MC, I had to… borrow it.”  He answered awkwardly, clearly wishing I hadn’t asked.  “They didn’t see me take it, but the police may eventually find it and Jae-Won’s body.” Jumin explained, his tone leaning towards worry.

 

“Wow.  I wouldn’t have thought you would go so far.” Saeran smirked at him, impressed.

 

“You didn’t give me much choice.” Jumin bristled, his eyes burning into Saeran’s.  Saeran didn’t react to it, but I tried to cut the tension anyway.

 

“Aren’t you concerned that they’ll connect you to it?” I queried, worried we might get dragged back here.  I wanted to cover all the bases of this explanation.

 

“They will hopefully assume Jae-Won or someone else stole it before he was killed.  The only evidence they’ll find are the fake documents we left at the lodge.  As far as I know, no one saw me take the vehicle.”  He clarified, as we pulled up to the carpark next to the hotel.

 

Jumin quickly clambered out of the van, looking forward to collapsing into bed.  He was about to stalk away alongside Saeran when he turned back towards me.  He suddenly thrust his hands to my face, his fingers curling into my hair, and kissed me fiercely on my cheek, lips and finally on my neck.

 

“I missed you.” He whispered gutturally.  Before I could react, he rushed away back to the hotel. 

 

I looked over at the entrance to find Saeran staring at me with a curious expression, before it bled into his own, familiar, look of longing.  When Jumin reached the door, Saeran followed closely behind him.  The two of them were sharing a room, and I was going to stay on my own to avoid any arguments.  Plus, I had a feeling that Jumin had a lot to say to Saeran that he didn’t want to say in front of me.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The ‘interrogation’ wasn’t as bad as I thought.  I managed to remember Jumin’s explanation perfectly, while adding in a few extra details of my own that Jumin wouldn’t have known about.  It was true that the police had seemed bored by my account of the story, as though they just needed it to be able to progress further with more important aspects of the investigation.  To cover every possible angle of inquiry.  Jumin had been correct in his assumption that they had had little evidence to go on.

 

I pulled open the side-door to the van and helped Rika to sit down inside before clambering in myself.  Jumin and Saeran were seated in the front, looking rather stony-faced.  Jumin still appeared to be rather tired, which was probably why Saeran was driving.  Hopefully he wouldn’t overwork himself on the way home.

 

I pulled out my phone and logged into the RFA app.  I had missed a lot of messages, many of which were labelled ‘urgent’.  I started to panic and quickly scrolled through the oldest messages first to find out what was happening.  Many of them detailed various investigations that Saeyoung and Vanderwood had been involved with. 

 

They had managed to find some left-over documents in the abandoned Mint Eye safehouses.  One of them was basically a missing poster for me, explaining vaguely who I was, with an old picture of me.  I felt both disturbed and relieved.   They must not know my new identity, which means they don’t know what I look like now either.  They simply describe me as the eldest daughter of the Ryu family, with a label stating I was a high priority target.  I would have to make sure to keep up with my disguise whilst I was in public.  My thoughts then ebbed towards my recent kidnapping. 

 

I may want to change my disguise, just in case someone had figured out who I was.  I had previously concluded that, the man who had captured me outside of Rika’s apartment had just been waiting for someone to come back after he had ransacked it, but it could be more sinister after all.  I would have to keep an eye out for any changing information about me.  The next image was a similar poster, but for Rika.  This sent a chill down my spine.  She had the same priority label as I did.  How am I of a similar importance to their Saviour?

 

Saeyoung had found a very old looking document that appeared to be a page from a handwritten book.  It wasn’t written in a known language, but it did include illustrations.  One featured a woman, who had similar features to Rika, holding up her hands towards the sun.  The next one showed the woman holding a baby up towards the sun.  In the final image, the woman had her hand raised above another woman that was down on her knees in front of her.  Saeyoung had assumed that this meant the older side of the cult that Saeran had mentioned, wanted Rika to give birth to some sort of holy child.  No wonder she wanted to hide from them.  The final image was assumed to be some sort of blessing, but without the writing, it wasn’t clear what the blessing was for.  I had briefly shown the writing to Saeran and Rika, but they had no idea what they were looking at either.  So, it was unquestionably part of the old cult.

 

Many of the messages were conversations between Saeyoung, Jaehee and Zen which discussed their plans to pick up Hae from the station later today.  Hopefully it would work out the way they had planned.  Jaehee had also been in the process of finalising a deal on an apartment for me.  Apparently Jumin had given her a selected to sort through before we left.  I really need to make sure she gets given a week off from work.  Maybe I should have pushed her harder to invest in the coffee shop…

 

Interestingly, Vanderwood had actually started a conversation in the chat.  He had been informed by one of the agents, who was reviewing CCTV footage across the city, that she had briefly seen someone resembling Yoosung in various places around the city.  He always appeared to be ‘rushing’ past and would often be wearing his hood up.  Saeran bristled at this.

 

“If they do manage to find him, they can’t trust him.”  He stated, factually.  While he was correct, it was cruel.  Anything could have happened to Yoosung out there.  While it may be the smart thing to do, we could just be pushing him away while he’s vulnerable; driving him over the edge.

 

“Yoosung isn’t like that!” Rika screeched, the first thing she had said in days.  We all turned to look at her in shock and her gaze quickly fell to her hands.  “He’s… a sweet person.” She whispered wistfully, a small smile painted her lips.

 

“So, I was always an awful person then, huh Rika?” Saeran seethed, remembering how he had been before and after his ‘stay’ with Mint Eye.  He had fallen quickly to anger, which worried me.  It was so palpable, I could almost taste it.

 

“Nn-no, of course not!” She stammered, her eyes flicking around the van wildly.

 

“Saeran…” I warned, meeting his gaze.  He huffed exasperatedly and turned back around to continue driving in silence.  I could see he was stiff with tension, his knuckles white from gripping the wheel.

 

“I agree with Saeran.” Jumin said flatly. “We do not know where Yoosung has been all this time, or what he has been doing.  We will need to, at least, question him.”  No one replied to this, but I could see that Saeran had calmed down.  Rika continued to worry away at the sleeve of her coat.  I was about to defend Yoosung’s position when Saeran appeared to tense up again, his face seemed to twist into an alien expression.

 

“Anyway, MC, you might want to fade into the background for a while until Vanderwood can make you a new air-tight identity.” Saeran suggested pointedly, sounding both casual and cutting.  Casual in the sense that it was the most natural conclusion anyone would come to and cutting in the sense that it sought to undermine me, pick away at my confidence. 

 

While I had thought it might be necessary to change my appearance, a whole new identity was out of the question.  Too much work, and I had too much to do as it is.  They might have seen my face, but it was unlikely they knew my identity; the apartment hadn’t been in my name and had no connection to me at all.  I didn’t even have my mail sent there.  But something told me this went deeper than logic.  It was a need.  A need to assert control.

 

“Excuse me?” I growled.  He continued to hold my gaze in the rear-view mirror, trying to override me.  “We don’t need to go that far.”  I stated slowly, trying to calm my nerves.

 

“Oh, but we do MC.  Do you really want to be targeted by them again?” He asked sharply, trying to get under my skin.  What was going on with him right now?  I thought we’d made a breakthrough.  He’d agreed to allow me my own space, go at my own pace, and yet here we were.

 

“Have you been taking your medication Saeran?” I shot back at him.  His eyes turned cold in the mirror as he began to glare at me.

 

“Really?  Are you really throwing that at me right now?” He shot back, his expression between anger and despair.  Jumin looked concerned, paying attention to the road now on Saeran’s behalf, his hand hovering closer to the steering wheel just in case.  He was probably right, I shouldn’t talk be talking about this right now in front of everyone, but I was so irritated I found it difficult to stay calm.  I slowly exhaled.

 

“I apologise, but they won’t target me again.” I stated.  His expression softened, but in the end, he still felt the need to roll his eyes at me.

 

“Look, I know that you want to be strong and you’ve been doing a perfect job on the team for however long, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t slow down on occasion.” He replied, staring hard at the road.  I bit my cheek to keep myself from talking.  He can justify his control as a means of protecting me all he likes, but I won’t fold.

 

Nevertheless, our arguing wasn’t going to solve anything right now, plus it didn’t matter what Saeran said.  Jumin and Vanderwood made the decisions.  But why do I feel like Jumin will take his side over mine?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a shorter chapter, but the next one will feature some different POV's ;D


	16. Day Twelve: Hae's POV

Today was the day.  The day, I hoped, where I could finally be myself; no longer suffocating underneath my permanently affixed mask of contentment.  I had been angry before, for years, when Mina left without me.  Had she not cared for me?  Did she leave me to suffer on my own?  But I was wrong, she had been thinking of me the whole time… just waiting.  She knew she couldn’t take me from my parents, even with my permission.  A child does not have free will in that way, and an adult without some sort of status has little power.  Both of these examples describe me and my life.

 

I had been a part of the rush, the panic, as we take the final exam that decides our whole future.  It feels bitter now.  My future had been decided for me already.  I didn’t need the exam.  Now though, with Minas help, it might actually make a difference, so I worked much harder to attain a good position for myself.  Right now, I just wanted to rest, but I had one last thing to do.  Run away.

 

I hurried over to the train station, trying to get ahead of my classmates so they wouldn’t see me leaving in a ‘taxi’.  A taxi driven by Zen, an actor that most girls in school are obsessed with.  I hadn’t really heard of him before, other than seeing his name and his face when my friends had showed them to me over the years.  I suppose I understood the appeal, he had a fairly unique look, but I hadn’t thought about that sort of thing for a long time.  I turned the corner and saw a taxi parked a few hundred feet away from the front of the station, beyond the usual spaces for taxis.  I quickly unlocked my phone and checked the license plate number I had been given by Mina’s friend, Jaehee.  I’ve found my match.

 

I managed to get to the taxi before any of the other students rounded the corner.  I quickly peeked into the car from the passenger side to see the man they called Zen sat there.  He quickly snapped his head around and then smiled sheepishly at me, holding his hand up in a brief wave.  I understood the awkwardness.  I opened the door, sat down in the seat, put my seatbelt on and hugged my bag to my chest.  I only had a couple of essentials in there, besides my preparations for the exam; nothing my parents would notice was missing.  It’s not like they had ever bought any of the items for me anyway, they had people for that.

 

“Hey… I can put that on the backseat if you like?” He asked me in a soft, but sweet voice.  He was even more flawless in person.  I had believed his appearance was a trick, photoshopped, or enhanced, but he was just… beautiful.

 

“No… it’s okay.” I stammered, realising I had been staring at him. “I’m Hae.” I said, with a small smile, before holding out my hand to him.

 

“Zen.” He replied, before gently shaking my hand.

 

“So, are you taking me to the super-secret lair?” I asked light-heartedly.

 

“Something like that…” He mumbled before pulling away from the street.  “We wanted to take you to your sister’s apartment, but she’s in the middle of moving and I don’t think she wanted you to be alone.” He smiled, flashing his dazzling white teeth.

 

“And now she’s… gone.” I whispered, feeling slightly bitter.  I appreciated that all her friends were helping me, but I wished she had come on her own.

 

“She’ll be back soon, she just got held back at a business meeting overseas.”

 

“I can’t believe Mina works in the business sector after everything she went through with our family.” I said in disbelief.  It felt a lot like a lie.  What business woman dresses up as a schoolgirl, hauls herself over a 6-foot wall and manages to sneak unnoticed into a school just to see me?

 

“Mina?  I only know her as MC.”  He replied, grimacing.  I think he was trying to change the subject.

 

“MC… sounds familiar to me somehow.  Do you work with her?”

 

“No, not directly.  We both work for C&R International, just in… different departments.” He replied, awkwardly.  He glanced out the window for a few seconds before returning to his smiley, casual face.

 

“So, who’s Saeyoung?  Why does he live in the middle of nowhere?” I questioned, trying to crack this façade.

 

“Another colleague.  I don’t know, I think he just doesn’t care for the city.” Another awkward lie.  I had gotten used to people lying to me by now, I could recognise the signs.  At least if they were if they were a bad liar anyway, which Zen appeared to be.  I wasn’t going to call him out on it though, I didn’t really know who these people were after all.  Zen’s phone started ringing and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  Eventually, it popped up on the car’s screen saying it was Jaehee.  He pressed the answer button.  I expected to hear the call, but he must be wearing a headset.

 

“Hey Jaehee, what can I do for you?” He asked, relaxing back into his seat.  “Yeah, she’s here, I think we got away before anyone noticed.  We’re about halfway according to the directions.” I fiddled with the strap of my bag awkwardly. “Oh yes, of course.  Hae, could you set your phone to airplane mode until Saeyoung can have a look at it?  I’ll explain in a minute.”  I slowly pulled out my phone as Zen continued to talk in the background and set it to airplane mode.  I knew why, it didn’t need an explanation.  I’m hiding from my parents after all. 

 

“Oh, that’s good, she’s looking forward to seeing her again.  No, I haven’t seen him, and I’ve been jogging around the city all week.  Yeah, yeah, I know but what else do you expect?  I have to keep in peak physical condition, I have a reputation of beauty to uphold.” He laughed while I rolled my eyes.  I guess people didn’t know how self-absorbed he was.  Well, I suppose most people talked about his looks before his acting ability, so maybe it’s gone to his head?  I grimaced internally, what a strange bunch Mina ‘worked’ with.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

We finally reached ‘Saeyoung’s’ house.  Well, I say house, it didn’t exactly look like one.  It appeared to be a tiny concrete hut in the middle of nowhere.

 

“It’s uhh… bigger on the inside.” Zen laughed softly, making his way over to the large gate in front of it.  He stopped in front of a keypad.  I’d started to consider my options of escape when the gate started to creek open.  I turned around and saw a shabby looking man with bright red hair jogging over to us.  He quickly made his way over to Zen and gave him a big hug.  He looked uncomfortable.  Mina is leaving me with this… unkempt hermit?  I think I’d rather stay with Zen.  The man then met my gaze over Zen’s shoulder.  He gawked at me, before suddenly beaming at me.

 

“Hello, hello! Your protector is here!” He announced before jumping back from Zen and holding his arms out like he had performed some sort of circus trick.  Does C&R regularly employ the service of clowns?  I shifted awkwardly, and Zen gave me a sympathetic look.

 

“Hae, this is… Saeyoung.” Zen said, trying to hide his embarrassment.  Saeyoung held his hand out to me.  I approached slowly and shook his hand cautiously.  I was afraid he would suddenly start pulling 100 handkerchiefs out of my sleeve or something.  He then gestured towards his house, bowing slightly.  I reluctantly walked past him, alongside Zen, to the door.

 

He opened the door after some finagling and we entered what looked like just a coat-room with a set of stairs leading down.  Zen hung his jacket up and started taking off his shoes, so I did the same.  Saeyoung kicked of his shoes and slipped on a pair of slippers.  They both began to walk downstairs, so I followed behind them. 

 

This led to a large open plan kitchen/dining room/ living room.  There were three doors at the far end of the room and another set of stairs leading further down.  The space was… _unkempt_ , was probably the best word.  It looked like it had been clean at some point and then someone had just started leaving things lying around rather than putting them away, or in the bin.  Unwashed plates, empty containers of food and drink, a few items of clothing strewn around seemingly at random.

 

I became distracted when I heard a soft mewl.  I looked down at my feet and noticed two cats waiting patiently for attention.  I immediately sank down to the floor to pet the two fluffy white cats, finally feeling comfortable.

 

“Whaaat? I haven’t been able to get those cats to come near me in days!” Saeyoung shouted in surprise, as one of the cats curled up in my lap.

 

“I forgot they were here…” Zen replied glumly, sounding slightly more nasally than before.

 

“I thought you weren’t as bad now?” Saeyoung asked.

 

“I can only tolerate them if I take my allergy medication…” He trailed off, eyeing the cats in annoyance.  I looked up at them both.  Zen looked uneasy, like he was trying to think of an excuse to leave.  Saeyoung wore a complicated expression that I couldn’t quite place.

 

“Well, you can head off if you want.” Saeyoung suggested.  Zen’s gaze slid over to me.

 

“Are you alright with that?” Zen asked.  I nodded in reply as I continued to pet the cats. “Just remember that men are wolves, Hae.” He warned, gently.

 

“Aren’t you also a man?” I asked sarcastically.

 

“Exactly.” He winked.  “It was nice to meet you, Hae, until next time.” He smiled, nodding his head towards me.

 

“Goodbye.” I smiled politely.  Saeyoung left the room to show Zen to the door.  I could hear them saying their goodbyes, then Saeyoung quickly made his way back down to me.

 

“Hey, want a drink?” He asked, as he entered the room again, not looking at me.

 

“Sure, I’ll have some water or something.” I suggested, while scratching behind one of the cat’s ears.  “So… you’re also a businessman working with my sister?” I asked, with a hint of scepticism.

 

“I work in the tech department.” He answered simply.  I sighed.

 

“Do all my sister’s friends lie?” I asked directly.  He laughed in surprise.

 

“Maybe, except for Jaehee.” He simpered over his shoulder, before bringing a glass of water to me.  He handed it to me without looking at me.  “Well… I’ve got some stuff to do, so I’ll be downstairs in my office if you need me.  The room over there has a computer in it if you want to use it.” He said, before starting to walk downstairs.  I think he’s trying to avoid me…

 

I went over to the room he mentioned, and it appeared to be someone’s bedroom.  Though it might just be a spare room, as it was sparsely decorated and fairly neat, unlike the rest of the house.  Perhaps the person that cleaned up around here wasn’t around?  I pondered the situation when I noticed something familiar.  A pendant, hung up alongside a variety of alternative fashion belts on the back of the door.  More specifically, it was Mina’s pendant, a gift she had received from our grandparents when she was born.  It was a round pendant made from green quartz with a sculpted gold design on the front that looked like leaves and various other things alongside three solid gold spots in the centre.  It hung from a delicate gold chain.  I hadn’t realised she’d kept it all this time, but why was it here?  I rolled my thumb across my own pendant of similar design, except that mine was made from rose quartz instead of green.  It couldn’t be Mina’s room… there’s no way she wears those belts.  I _refuse_ to believe that.

 

I was about to sit down at the desk when I remembered I was supposed to give my phone to Saeyoung.  I sighed internally and made my way towards the stairs.  The cats were curled up together in a small wicker basket.  I carefully walked past them as to not disturb them and headed downstairs.  There were three doors along a small corridor.  I could wear a whirring noise, like when a computer’s fans were pushed to the limit, so I followed the noise.  I knocked lightly.  No response.  I knocked again.  No response.

 

“Saeyoung?” I asked.  No Response.

 

I slowly opened the door to see another bedroom.  It was dark inside, but the room was slightly lit up by the computer screen at the far end.  I approached slowly, to see Saeyoung slumped over his keyboard, presumably asleep.  I considered waking him up when something on the screen distracted me.  There was a picture of my Aunt and Uncle with a baby alongside pictures of a blonde woman, and myself and Mina when we were younger.  Some sort of program appeared to be analysing it.  Why was Saeyoung looking at pictures of my dead relatives and pictures of us as children?  I scowled, picked up the glass of whatever-it-was and poured it down Saeyoung’s back.  He screeched and arched his back.  His head quickly whipped around to see me standing there.

 

“What the hell is this?” I ask him emptily, tears forming in my eyes.  He blinked at me in confusion and then his eyes quickly flicked to the screen.

 

“Umm… nothing?” He asked, holding up his hands in surrender.  I continued to stare him down and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.  “You should probably ask MC.” He mumbled, whilst trying to wipe the residual liquid from his neck with his sleeve.

 

“Why can’t you tell me?” I asked, exacerbated.

 

“It’s not up to me, okay?” He whined.  “You’re not _my_ sister.”  I grabbed his wrists and started to shake his arms wildly.

 

“That’s a pathetic excuse!  I shouldn’t need my sister to explain to me why you’re analysing creepy pictures of me as a baby and my dead family!” I cried, begging him to listen to me.

 

“Hey, come on, you’re being unreasonable-” He stuttered, trying to regain control of his arms.

 

“Unreasonable?!” I shouted, throwing his arms down.  “You’re sat here like some creepy pervert-!”

 

“What are you saying?” He squeaked.  “I’m just a simple god, I’m not… doing anything weird.” He pleaded.  I slowly leaned towards him, scowling down at him.  He sunk back in his seat, slightly leaning away from me and scrunched up his face. 

 

Up close, he was quite handsome, but I wouldn’t let it distract me this time.  I wasn’t used to spending my time with attractive men.  Even though I was _betrothed,_ I had never met my fiancé in person, though even by the pictures I had seen, he was some creepy, tired, old man.  He didn’t hold a candle to these beings.  The thought of him made my skin crawl, but I managed to hold back my revulsion and met Saeyoung’s pretty golden eyes again.

 

“Hmph, I _suppose_ I can believe you.” I sneered as I took a step back from him.

 

“Geez, I can tell you two are related, both nosy troublemakers.” He mumbled as he scratched his face.  I sneered triumphantly in response.

 

“So, what are you _really_ doing?” I questioned again. 

 

He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.  “Ugh, fine!  I thought someone looked a lot like MC, so I wanted to check out my theory.”

 

I scoffed.  “In what way do they look alike?  Mina has brown hair and hazel eyes.”

 

“Look closer than that.” He said, bringing up a recent picture of Mina.  “The shape of their faces, their bone structure, eye shape…” He trailed off, staring at the screen.

 

“And you’re checking if she matches the baby?” I asked.  I knew my Uncle and Aunt died years ago, but I had just assumed my cousin died with them.

 

“The baby would be too difficult, but I am trying to see if she matches the parent’s features.”

 

“I see… is this what you do for C&R?” I asked cynically.  He didn’t reply.  I turned to look at him and found him staring at me blankly.

 

“Why did you come down here?” He asked suspiciously.

 

“Zen told me to give you my phone.” I replied, holding the phone out to him.  He quickly took it from me and plugged it in to his computer.  He began tapping away for a while, so I sat down on the chair next to his desk.  A few things popped up on the screen, but he seemed to deal with them easily.  After a while, he unplugged the phone and handed it back to me in silence.

 

“You can turn it back on now.” He said emotionlessly, before starting to ignore me again.

 

“Hey-” I began before he interrupted me.

 

“Can you just get out here… please?” He asked, sounding irritated and tired.  I huffed in annoyance and left the room, slamming the door behind me.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Saeyoung sighed to himself and got up to splash some water on his face.  _MC is going to fucking kill me_ , he thought, as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. 

 

She looks the same as MC.  Or should I say, the MC I knew before I left.  Driven and teasing, but still innocent and bright.  I left her to get swallowed up by darkness the same as I had with Saeran.  I couldn’t even look at her, and I still can’t.  I can’t share her.  Not with Jumin, and definitely not with Saeran.  Besides being my brother, his mind is far too crushing and all-encompassing.  Even in the hospital, Saeran had found a way to follow MC’s every movement.  Know everything she was doing, things that even I didn’t know. 

 

I only noticed very recently; that he had been asking me very precise and leading questions the whole time.  Questions that would allow him to access most of the programmes I had created for the RFA, including my own security system and computer.  He took dedication to a whole new level, almost obsessive.  However, MC is no longer _my_ MC.  I’m not sure that she ever had been.  He’s always been her lingering, silent shadow.  I blinked rapidly, breaking out of my daze, when I heard the sound of someone stomping up the stairs.

 

_Hae…_

 

I needed to leave Hae alone.  I could still feel the ghost of her fingers on my arms.  My skin prickled at the thought of it.  This is why I needed to hide in my room, but my lack of a regular sleeping schedule had gotten the better of me.  Her face had been so close.  _Too fucking close._ She made me tell her everything without even trying to.  I slapped my hands against my face, trying to release the tension that had built up in my body.  Not only would I have to explain _what_ I had done, I would to explain _why._ I couldn’t explain why.  I wouldn’t.


	17. Day Fourteen: Home, sweet home...

I pressed my forehead against the cool glass window, hoping it would soothe my incoming headache.  I hadn’t managed to sleep for long on the flight.  I had spent most of the time playing card games with Rika.  She never spoke again, but she seemed suitably engaged.  Jumin had tried to catch up on some work, but ended up collapsing, and sleeping for almost the entire journey. 

 

Saeran had generally stayed scarce, coming over to play a few rounds of cards with us before slipping back into his own space.  We didn’t directly speak again after our last argument, only offering cursory words to one another while playing together.  Despite this, I still found myself curled up in his lap at one point, my head resting against his chest, due to falling asleep on him.  He had simply stared out of the small window at the everlasting whiteness, his hands gently caressing through my hair and down my back. 

 

It was now the afternoon of the next day.  The time difference wasn’t terrible, if I ignored that I had ‘lost’ an entire day, it just felt like I had gained six hours of my day back.  Six extra, glorious hours of wondering what the hell Saeyoung and Hae had been doing.  I worried whether she was even alive.

 

“Are you alright?” Saeran asked me, quickly glancing into my eyes while he was driving.

 

“I don’t know.” I replied vaguely, massaging my temples. “I’m just hoping the bunker isn’t on fire.”  I grimaced.  Hae had been there for two days now and I hadn’t heard a whisper from Saeyoung.  Zen had told me she was there, but Saeyoung had stayed oddly non-existent.  Even Vanderwood hadn’t heard from him, today anyway.  He sent through some things the first night she had been there, but that was all.  Jumin had to go straight back to work to finally relieve Jaehee and his father of the extra responsibilities they had been sharing between them while he was gone.  He hadn’t had the time to call Saeyoung when we left the plane.  He hadn’t even had the time to say goodbye to us, as he quickly rushed Rika away to some secure location within the city.

 

“I can’t believe you let my idiot brother look after your little sister.”  Saeran grumbled, the muscles in his arms tensing slightly as he clenched and unclenched his hands on the wheel.

 

“She’s probably looking after him, let’s be honest.” I smiled, remembering how good Hae was at cooking and baking, even at fourteen.  I missed those days.  The days when it had just been the two of us, destroying the kitchen with cocoa powder and dreams of a chocolatey heaven.

 

“Yeah, you’d almost think I _wasn’t_ the crazy one, with the amount of responsibility I have.” He smiled softly before exhaling deeply.  “I suppose I don’t mind, it helps me to think about stuff.”

 

“Like when you draw?” I asked, curious.  It was nice to just _talk_ to Saeran normally, for once. 

 

“Yeah… I did a lot of art therapy.  The medication doesn’t really help me that much.  I only take it if I’m struggling.  I take them when I need to not… feel anything.”  He explained quietly whilst focusing on the road ahead.  He swallowed uncomfortably.  Perhaps this was inappropriate?

 

“I’m sorry I-” I began, before he cut me off.

 

“You don’t need to apologise, for then or now.  I wasn’t thinking.  And after everything I had to do, I felt like I was slipping back into… unknown again.  I thought it would be harder now, but it was… so easy.”  He shivered, his voice slowly becoming a whisper.  Was he ashamed?  Concerned?  His expression could be difficult to read, which I found infuriating, as it is part of my job to slice into one’s mask. 

 

Perhaps it was because his mask was simply _too_ good.  It wasn’t just a mask for him, it was as though he equipped a new personality altogether.  Just another version of himself.  Empty and controlling.  Cold and forceful.  _Unknown._   I had seen him wear it before to varying degrees, more recently, when he had to fire my gun before were trapped in the office building.  Though, it hadn’t stuck to him as much as when we had been in Valdez.  He’d let it engulf him and he allowed himself to drown in it.  It only cracked open when he’d had to use a gun again in the snowy forest.

 

“Are you sure you’re alright?”  I asked, my voice laced with concern.  His lips pursed in… surprise?  He considered my question for a few seconds, looking like he was trying to taste the notes in a fine wine.  He seemed to almost… enjoy my concern for him.

 

“No.” He replied bluntly.  “Perhaps I don’t have as much control as I’d like to believe… But honestly, I think you’re right.  I need to take a step back for a day, or two.  Maybe you’d like to join me.”  He smiled teasingly, his gaze slowly flickering over to me.  I quickly looked at my hands.  I felt my cheeks slowly turning hot.  I couldn’t meet his gaze, not when it felt so intense.  He made a satisfied noise.

 

“I’m just joking, MC.”  He murmured sarcastically, his voice smooth, yet foreboding.  I quickly flicked my eyes up to his face.  He held a sarcastic smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.  They were serious, and I felt like he was piercing into my soul.  I let out a shaky laugh and whipped my head around to stare outside at the trees.  I had forgotten how far away the bunker was from the city centre.

 

“Do you paint then?” I asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

 

“Hmm, sometimes, if the weather is nice.  I usually paint outside; the house is messy enough as it is.”  He let out a deep breath.  “I’m not looking forward to seeing it again.”

 

“Neither am I…” I mumbled, recalling how long it had taken both myself _and_ Jaehee to clean that damned hole.  I’m not sure how Saeran had survived for so long on his own.

 

“The only reason my room was clean was because he had never set foot in there since I left.”  He smirked.  “And you kept the room just as neat as I would have.”  I looked at him questioningly and he laughed. 

 

“Well, I’m pretty sure Saeyoung doesn’t wear lacey-” I interrupted him by spluttering awkwardly in surprise, before he began to laugh even harder than before.  I had _forgot._ I stuffed all my old clothes in the drawer and _forgot_ to take them home with me.  I exhaled deeply, allowing his laughter to roll through me.

 

“I suppose I can give it all back to you now.” He chuckled softly, finally calming down.

 

“I think I’ll just burn them.” I dead-panned.  He smiled in amusement.

 

“Well in that case, I’ll just keep them.” He replied with a wink.

 

“I’ll burn down the bunker.” I threatened in jest.

 

“It _does_ need redecorating.”  He agreed with a sarcastic sigh.  “So… you know about my artistic diversions, what do you do when you’re not MC, the great infiltrator?”  He asked.  I gazed at him blankly for a moment.  What did I do exactly?

 

“I… hang out with the other RFA members sometimes.” I offered pathetically.  He gave me an incredulous look.

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Uhh…”

 

“I definitely need to take you out for ice-cream or something.”  He mumbled, looking out the window.  I could see a concerned crease on his forehead when I looked into the rear-view mirror.

 

“I know I work too much Saeran…” I admitted miserably.

 

“I just don’t want you to end up like my brother.  He’d work 24/7 if Yoosung didn’t occasionally convince him to play LOLOL or if you hadn’t kept bothering him.”

 

“So, I’m a bother?” I asked playfully.

 

“You know what I mean.” He insisted, waving me away.  “What did you do before I found you?” He asked.

 

“I think you know the reason you found me so easily…” I trailed off.  I was so easy to ‘manipulate’ because I had nothing else in my life.  I had no-one.  If Saeran had come to recruit me in person, who knows what would have happened.  I had been so lonely, I’d have probably melted into him.  I was a perfect candidate to be indoctrinated into a cult.  I breathed in surprise when Saeran gently placed his hand over mine, a comforting gesture.

 

“You’re too stubborn for a cult.”  He smiled reassuringly.  I felt my face heat up, but I forced myself to hold his gaze this time.  He broke contact to keep his eyes on the road, but he kept his hand on top of mine.

 

“What does your sister call you?” He asked suddenly, breaking me out of my comfortable musings.

 

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

 

“Saeyoung insisted on calling me Saeran no matter how much I reviled it.” He replied darkly.

 

“I… didn’t know what.” I admitted weakly. “What… did you want to be called?”

 

“It’s not important anymore.  It just made it more difficult in the beginning.  I don’t think I ever fully accepted it until I first heard you call me Saeran.  I liked how you said it.”  He explained, a thoughtful look on his face. 

 

I felt touched by his honesty, but in the end, it took me back to that first day.  A day I didn’t want to think about ever again.  That first few days I had spent with Saeran was always going to sour whatever relationship we would have in the future.  I’m not even sure if he remembered it.  I’m not sure which side of that situation would be more preferable.  Now I think about it, Saeyoung had mentioned that Saeran had had to work through these problems with a therapist, but he had never brought up the past with me.  I suppose I couldn’t blame him, I hadn’t wanted to either, but I wasn’t the one that needed to apologise for it.

 

“She calls me Mina.” I replied softly, trying to distract myself from my traumatic thoughts.  “I don’t really mind.  She was the only one I ever regretted leaving behind.”

 

“What if other people called you Mina?”

 

“I’m… not sure how I would feel.  Most of the people who know me by that name probably wouldn’t recognise me on the street with my disguise.  Why do you think my family has never found me after all these years, despite my apparent importance?” I asked rhetorically.  I wouldn’t say my disguise was amazing or anything, all I did was wear a dark purple wig and use blue contact lenses.  When I had to speak to someone, I acted like a happy-go-lucky teenager; the complete opposite of my personality.  Hopefully it annoyed people enough that they didn’t look too closely at my visage; I mean, I would successfully annoy myself while doing it, so that was probably a good sign.

 

“I don’t think it makes you look that different.”  He mumbled as he began to slow the car down.  My eyes flicked up to the road and I realised we were at the car-park entrance to the bunker.  The car park entrance was down a small dirt track off the road.  The carpark was part of the 1st underground level of the bunker.  He pulled up to the gate and swiftly dealt with the security system.  I supposed he got used to it after living here for a few weeks.

 

After the large metal gate fully opened, he pulled into a space, far away from Saeyoung’s fancy cars.  We both got out of the car and I started to walk towards the door to the bunker when I noticed Saeran wasn’t beside me.  I turned around to see him staring at the ground, hesitating.  I slowly walked back towards him and cautiously placed my hand on his arm.  His eyes snapped up to meet mine.  He had a far-off expression, like he was still daydreaming.

 

“Saeran?” I asked, my hand slowly gliding up his skin to lightly cup his jaw.  He shivered a little, breaking out of his trance.  He blinked a few times and properly met my eyes this time.

 

“Never be too afraid to question my actions, MC.  I need it.”  He breathed, somehow looking both emotional and distant.  He spoke so suddenly and sounded so vulnerable my mouth opened slightly in surprise.

  

I needed to reassure him.  I knew that I hadn’t helped the situation between us.  I kept pushing him further away when he had been losing sight of himself.  I was always too quick to expect the worse from him.  Always anticipating betrayal.  I couldn’t let him analyse these situations and learn from them without admitting my own failings.  I needed to be reasonable.  I’m far from being a good person or a role-model of sanity.  I wasn’t even sure who I was anymore outside of Mint Eye and the underbelly of the RFA.  Even when I spent time with Jumin, it was largely under the guise of work.  When we were being ‘normal’, I didn’t know how to act, especially when surrounded by his opulent lifestyle.  I had grown to hate all of that when I was still Mina Ryu; I didn’t want to return to it as MC. 

 

I almost missed living as a pauper during university.  I might have lived in my friend’s house and wanted for nothing, but I’d insisted in paying for everything beyond that by myself.  I wouldn’t even let them buy me dinner.  I had to work a crappy part-time job to afford it, but it was worth it.  I already owed them too much as it was, I didn’t want to overstay my welcome.

 

“Only if you promise to question mine.” I replied, with a soft smile.  He laughed shakily in reply, turning his head away from me.  He quickly composed himself and turned back towards me.

 

“Sure.” He agreed, gesturing towards the door to the bunker. “After you.”

 

We walked up to the door, deposited our shoes in the rack and then Saeran began to fiddle around with the panel to let us into the house.  Eventually, the lock clicked and Saeran swung the door open.  It was eerily quiet in the bunker, so much so that Saeran lightly touched the gun I knew he had in his jacket pocket.

 

“Stay behind me.” He directed warily.  I didn’t exactly appreciate him ordering me around, but my own feelings of dread stifled any complaints about it.  We crept into the large open-plan Livingroom/Kitchen, making sure we checked the perimeter and the connecting rooms thoroughly.  When we found that there were no signs of life, not even the Cats, Saeran motioned for me to follow him downstairs.  We inched slowly downstairs, careful not to make the stairs creek under our combined weight.  The downstairs hallway was dark, but Saeran made no attempt to flick the lights on.

 

“Saeyoung’s computer isn’t turned on.” Saeran ruminated, reaffirming his grip on the gun.  I gently placed my hand on his shoulder to calm his slowly fraying nerves.  He seemed to regain a sliver of composure.  Saeran may have hated Saeyoung for years, but after all the therapy and reconnecting, they appeared to have strengthened the bond between them immeasurably.  If any harm came to Saeyoung, Saeran would absolutely crack, regardless of whether I was here to pick up the pieces.

 

When we reached Saeyoung’s room, Saeran tentatively pushed the door open after noticing it had been slightly ajar.  Saeyoung’s computer was indeed switched off, but what I saw in the room was horrifying.

 

Saeyoung was stretched out on his bed, his arms above his head, clothes and hair rumpled by sleep.  Then there was Hae, _curled up_ against his body, her head resting on his chest.  She was wearing _his clothes._   I seethed, anger and betrayal ebbing from my being like I was a geyser of darkness.  I _trusted_ him.  She’s my _little_ sister.  My _nineteen-year-old_ sister. 

 

I felt hands gripping onto me then, pulling me away, but I was trapped in my own mind.  I barely even noticed.  I couldn’t process a single word he said.  He stood in front of me and tried to shake me out of my trance, but his face was out of focus, like he was miles away from me.  Then I felt like I was floating, my head thrust onto his shoulder.  He was carrying me away, back upstairs.  The rooms passed by me listlessly.  I was so _done._   I closed my eyes, feeling myself be consumed by it all.  The overwhelming emotions. 

 

When I opened them, I was laid down on Saeran’s bed.  My eyes were wet and raw from tears I hadn’t felt myself shed.  My nose was stuffy.  My face burned uncomfortably.  I felt the bed move next to me before a pair of cool hands caressed the sides of my face, trying to quench my overloading anguish.  His voice slowly pushed its way into my consciousness, the world slowly coming into focus around me.

 

“MC…” He whispered, almost frantic, trying to find the appropriate way to comfort me.

 

“Saeran.” I croaked, my hands shakily gripping onto the collar of his jacket. 

 

He froze, his eyes flickered into fearful confusion.  He didn’t know what to do.  He didn’t want to push the boundaries I had constructed only a short while ago.  But everything I had said had been blown out of the water.  I selfishly wanted to be enveloped in him, no matter the consequences.  I yanked him down by his jacket, feeling him collapse on top of me with a surprised huff, smothering my face with his chest.  I buried my hands in the fabric of his t-shirt, holding him to me in a vice-like grasp.  I could barely breathe underneath him, but it helped to make me feel grounded in reality. 

 

We laid there for a little while as I tried to regain my composure, but I could still feel the tension in his body, ready to pull away from me at any opportunity.  I absorbed everything I could from the man above me.  His warmth, his scent, the feel of his lithe form against mine, the sound of his heart pounding; to firmly root myself back into reality.

 

I reluctantly lessened my grip and he slowly pulled back from me.  His face was tinged pink, but rather than extricating himself completely, he sat next to me with his legs crossed, not quite touching me, but making his presence feel known.  I felt his gaze settle on me as I continued to stare at the ceiling.

 

“Are we still in Valdez?  Am I enduring some sort of torture and my mind has finally given up on itself?” I asked emptily, my voice still quivering.

 

“I don’t think that would be better than reality MC.”  He whispered, lightly brushing his fingers across my cheek.

 

“I’m not so sure…” I exhaled slowly, before meeting his eyes with my own.  He wore an unusually soft expression that I hadn’t realised I had been missing.  I’d been too used to arguing with him, so it seems.

 

“What do you want to do?” He asked uncomfortably.  I suppose one of us had to bring it up eventually…

 

“I can’t decide whether to kill him or just beat the shit out of him.” I rumbled, feeling the rage begin to bubble to the surface again.

 

“Maybe _I_ should talk to him…” He offered hastily.  I shot him a pointed look.  “I just think we should find out what happened first is all…” He sighed defeatedly.

 

“I’ll think about it.” I forced out, closing my eyes to centre myself.  “I’m sorry for… having a meltdown.

 

He chuckled softly. “Don’t worry about.  I’m pretty sure I owe you at least three meltdowns.”

 

“True.” I conceded, one corner of my mouth quirking up into a half-hearted smile, which quickly fell when I heard a creak from downstairs.  I stiffened, and I felt Saeran wriggle uncomfortably next to me.  My eyes cracked open and I looked at Saeran painfully.

 

“You might need to think fast.” He pressed, and I groaned in response.  “How about I leave the door open and you can come in when you want?”

 

“Fine.”  I huffed as he made his way over to the Livingroom.  I immediately heard the startled whine of Saeyoung.  I ground my teeth together.

 

“Brother.” Saeran greeted blankly, with a hint of foreknowledge.  I got off the bed and leaned against the doorframe.  Thankfully, Saeyoung had his back towards me.  I didn’t have to see his traitorous face.

 

“Saeran!” Saeyoung announced with joy throwing his arms out for a hug, when Saeran’s unbelievably stony expression stopped him in his tracks.  It exuded such pure hatred and disgust that it had managed to stop Saeyoung dead.  “Saeran…?” He questioned anxiously, his body tensing up.

 

“Why?” Saeran asked darkly.  My eyes widened by his change in persona.  I didn’t think this whole affair had affected Saeran, but he seemed just as pissed off as I had been.  Was this for my benefit?  Or had he simply been so concerned about my wellbeing, that he hadn’t even processed it until seeing Saeyoung’s dopey grin.

 

“Why… what?” Saeyoung stammered, feigning ignorance and looking away.

 

“Don’t fucking turn away from me.” Saeran snarled in warning.  Saeyoung slowly turned his head back, forcing himself to meet Saeran’s stormy countenance.  “ _We_ saw your room.”  He informed menacingly.

 

“We…?” He squeaked, finally feeling my presence behind him.  He started to turn when Saeran snapped his fingers at him to regain his attention.

 

“What did I just say?”

 

Saeyoung let out a shaky breath, steadying his gaze on Saeran.  “What do you want me to say?”

 

Saeran scoffed in disgust, throwing his hands up.  “You won’t even admit it will you?”

 

Saeyoung looked down then, focusing solely on socks while wringing his hands in trepidation.  This only seemed to upset Saeran even more.  I stepped out from the safety of the doorframe before Saeran could lunge for his brother.  I stalked over to Saeyoung.  Saeran noticed my movement and straightened up, taking a step away from Saeyoung to give me space.  I roughly gripped Saeyoung by his chin and jerked his face up to meet my venomous visage.  He gaped at me in disbelief, as though he hadn’t figured out I was there.

 

“You are dead to me.” I stated in fury before violently pushing him away from me.  I watched as something broke inside of him, and I smirked triumphantly; hungrily devouring his despair, revelling in it.

 

“MC…” He breathed pathetically, reaching out for me.  Saeran put his body between us, acting as an immovable shield.  I turned away from him and walked towards the stairs, Saeran close behind me.  I put my hand on the handrail when I snapped back around to face Saeyoung.  He looked at me miserably, silently pleading with me to stay.  My grip tightened on the wood, strengthening my resolve and I began to stomp down the stairs. 

 

As I entered the hallway, Hae stepped out the bedroom, carefully patting her hair dry with a towel.

 

“Mina?!” She beamed excitedly.  This was going to hurt more than I expected.

 

“Pack up your stuff Hae.” I ordered indignantly.  Confusion spread across her features.  She looked between me and Saeran, likely noticing that he looked almost identical to Saeyoung, only adding to the list of questions she was quickly forming in her mind.

 

“What’s wrong?” She stammered in worry, cautiously taking a step towards me.  I held up my hand as a silent request to stay and then rubbed the back of my neck in frustration.

 

“Please just gather your things Hae.  We’ll talk about it later.” I reassured.  She didn’t look convinced but complied in silence regardless.  She seemed to float wordlessly back into _his_ room.  I heard her start rummaging around and I swore under my breath in frustration.  I felt a steadying hand on my shoulder.  I had almost forgotten Saeran lingering behind me.

 

“It will be alright.” He breathed against my ear. “Are you taking her to your new place?”

 

“I suppose so… though I haven’t even seen it.  I’ve been assured that it’s lovely though.” I smiled weakly while turning to face him. “What are you going to do?  Do you want to stay at mine?  It apparently has three bedrooms for some reason.” I offered, trying to sound enthusiastic.  I really didn’t want to know how expensive that apartment was.  Jumin knew this, which is why he didn’t tell me about it at all; I would have definitely turned it down.  Saeran made an affirming noise.

 

“If you don’t mind I’ll think about it.  I’ll drive you two there, but I might come back here for a bit.  I’ll decide based on how angry I am.  It might be worth it to stay with you just for the food alone.”  He teased, but it didn’t quite match his eyes, similar to the mismatched expression be held during the car journey over here.  I knew he just wanted to be with me, but I don’t think either of us were ready for that.

 

“Oh, I see.  Is that all I’m good for?”  I shot back jokingly.  He took the opportunity to loom over me.  He wasn’t that much taller than me, but he knew how to be ‘intimidating’.

 

“Of course not.” He agreed in a seductive tone, his eyes boring down into mine, before he pushed away from me floatily.  Hae then pushed the door open and shuffled out of the room with her school bag.  She looked a little deflated.

 

“Is that everything?” I asked nicely, trying to recover from my earlier dismissiveness.  She smiled faintly and nodded her head.  “Saeran-” I began before gesturing to him. “-is going to take us to my new apartment.  We’ll get to explore it together.” I grinned, starting to feel a little excited.

 

“Sounds like fun.”

 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

“So, he’s your brother, right?” Hae asked Saeran out of the blue.  We had left the bunker in relative silence, Saeyoung nowhere to be seen.  Hae had looked a little disappointed, but she didn’t say anything.  The silence had continued during the majority of the car ride, besides me directing Saeran, until now.

 

“We’re twins.” He replied gruffly, clearly not wanting to talk about Saeyoung.  It probably didn’t help that I hadn’t addressed the elephant in the room.  He didn’t want to say anything eluding to that drama; it wasn’t really his job.

 

She sighed.  “Clearly.”  She mumbled before sinking back into her seat and pouting.  I wasn’t sure what she had meant by that.

 

“Next left.” I interjected, trying to cut through the new tension that had settled throughout the vehicle.

 

Saeran turned the car left and then smirked at Hae. “You mean, we both hate people asking us stupid questions?”

 

Hae huffed in response before scowling out of the window.  I smiled to myself and noticed the new direction pop up on my phone.

 

“Second right.  We’re nearly there now.” I turned and smiled apologetically at Hae in the back seat.  Her scowl melted a little bit in relief.  The bunker was a fair distance away from the city, and this apartment was closer to Jumin’s residence than I was expecting.  I take it this meant I still wouldn’t be financing my own apartment?  I mean, my salary was probably better than most people’s, but I’d only be able to afford a place like this if I used like 90% of my earnings on it.

 

“No way can you afford to live here just working as an assistant, Mina.” Hae lightly accused.

 

“Who said I was an assistant?” I balked in confusion.

 

“Saeyoung.”

 

I scoffed in annoyance.  “Of course he’d say that, I doubt he’d even remember when my birthday was.”  Vanderwood literally had identity documents drawn up to avoid this sort of nonsense.

 

Saeyoung should know what my “job” is.  Officially, I was a Data Analyst for C&R International.  It was the closest role we could agree on to describe what I do to the uninitiated.  It would be more accurate to say I was an intelligence analyst, but an ordinary business doesn’t require such people, so we settled on a data analyst.

 

“I’m a data analyst.” I corrected. “I work closely with the Executive Director, so people assume that I’m his personal assistant.” I supplied to explain Saeyoung’s idiocy.  Though if I knew Hae, she probably wouldn’t fall for it for long.  She nodded briefly.  Yeah, I’m definitely not going to get away with that.  _How much blabbing had Saeyoung done?_ I thought, trying not to glower too noticeably.

 

“I’m a spy.” Saeran deadpanned before smirking. 

 

Hae coughed in surprise.  “You’re too weird looking to be a spy.” She retorted while laughing.

 

Saeran pretended to sob.  “That’s just mean.” 

 

We pulled up to the control panel for the car park and Saeran tapped the code in.

 

“Don’t worry, I don’t know the door code.”  He smirked, almost flirty.  I rolled my eyes.  He parked up in one of my two designated spaces, though it was a bit of a waste since I didn’t have my own car.  I had been informed that all of my belongings that could be recovered were already inside the apartment, along with a few new things Jaehee had been asked to buy for me.  I wasn’t sure what that had entailed exactly.  I _really_ owe Jaehee.

 

When we reached the correct floor, I tapped in the door code for the floor, so we could enter the hallway before we were able to proceed to my actual front door.  There were only four apartments on this level including mine.  I guess Jumin wanted me to live in an apartment with better security…

 

I unlocked the door and opened it.  I immediately froze in the doorway.  Jumin is _insane._   Saeran leaned over my shoulder to look into the space with Hae behind him trying to peek inside on her tip-toes.

 

“You sure you’re not married to Jumin?” Saeran chuckled with a hint of bitterness.  I blinked at the sound and walked into the room now I was back in reality. 

 

The apartment had a huge open plan space featuring the kitchen, dinning room and living room.  It had wooden floors, polished within an inch of their life and a fully windowed curved wall, revealing a beautiful view of the city, and allowing light to bleed brightly into every corner of the space.  Everything was ultra-modern, resembling Jumin’s apartment, except with more pops of colour than his apartment’s conventional black and white theme.  It even had a piano of all things; How did that even get in here? 

 

The master bedroom was carpeted, with a large bed, a walk-in wardrobe and an immaculate master bathroom.  This room continued the large window theme, along with a small garden terrace already outfitted with colourful flowers.  My desk and computer were set up against one of the windows, so I could look out to the city or at my own personal garden.  Jumin had moved all my small plants onto some shelves across from the bed.  There was even a feature wall with a black and white forest design on it.  I immediately sat down on the bed in slight shock.  I could hear Saeran and Hae continue to gawp at the rest of the apartment, but it sounded very far away.  I knew Jumin would be too busy for me to call him, so I sent him a text instead.

 

MC:  I thought I’d told you that you couldn’t buy my affection?

 

I set my phone down on the bed when Saeran peered into my room from the open door.  His eyes widened for a few seconds before he looked at me with concern.

 

“It’s… definitely something.” He supplied awkwardly before he leaned against the far wall.

 

“It’s madness, that’s what it is.” I replied without emotion.

 

“Perhaps…”

 

“What do you mean?” I demanded in frustration.

 

He held up his hands.  “You should ask him… it’s not up to me to say anything.”

 

I sighed.  “I’m sorry… I’m just fed up of all of this… stuff.”  I didn’t know how else to put it, as these events didn’t really have a cohesive category other than just _ugh._

 

This apartment was just too much.  It wasn’t as large as Jumin’s apartment by far, but the detail was just _overwhelming._   This had definitely been designed by Jumin in painstaking detail; he knew everything I’d have ever wanted for an apartment, but I’d have been fine with another small apartment like Rika’s.  It was all I needed.  Jumin had picked me up and dive-bombed me into ultimate luxury that I hadn’t earned or deserved.  Jumin’s apartment itself was ridiculous, but it wasn’t _mine,_ I’d just been a temporary guest to opulence; now I was a permanent resident.  I broke out of my despair when Saeran sat down next to me on the bed and took my hand in his.

 

“You can say no, MC.  You don’t have to just accept it and move on.”

 

“I’m pretty sure it’d be difficult to undo the purchase-”

 

He interrupted me.  “It’s not just about the apartment.” He breathed, his eyes searching for mine.

 

“What are you…” I began jadedly before trailing off.

 

He gently cupped my cheek to explore my eyes for any hint of an expression.  “Much more has happened to wear you down, and I know I’m included in that.  All I’m going to say is… I know what I did, to you.  It sickens me, and I’m terrified I’ll become that monster again.  I don’t expect you to ever forgive me, just getting to talk to you is… unexpected and amazing…” He was starting to struggle now; his resolve was breaking.  He’d already expressed that he struggled with this sort of thing, his thoughts must have finally bubbled-over, but now it was spilling out around him.

 

“Saeran…” I began, his eyes snapped up to mine again, refocused. “I… find it difficult.  You’re different, but you’re also the same.  I’ll always remember it when I look into your eyes and I don’t want to forgive you, but I do… understand to an extent and I want to move on from it, as stupid as that sounds.”  I sighed, feeling lost for words as much as he seemed to be.

 

“That’s enough for me.” He whispered, a small smile playing across his lips.

 

“Good.” I exhaled in relief.  I hoped I didn’t have to encounter more “ _feels”_ today. 

 

I heard shuffling at the door and I looked up to see Hae in the doorway looking sheepish.

 

“Want to get some lunch?” She asked as my phone buzzed next to me.

 

“Sure.”  I quickly flicked my phone on to see Jumin had replied to me.

 

Han, Jumin:  I want to make you happy.

_Never mind.  More “feels” it is._

 


	18. Day Twelve & Thirteen: Star-Crossed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short-ish side story of Hae’s time with Saeyoung for those interested. POV split between Saeyoung and Hae.

~Hae~

 

Bored.  So bored.  What did this guy expect me to do all day?  There’s only so much time I could spent whiling away on Animal Crossing before it became monotonous.  I rolled off the sofa and headed over to the kitchen, rifling through the cupboards and the fridge.  There was barely anything in here other than packaged ramen or cup noodles.  I sighed and reluctantly walked towards the stairs and back towards Saeyoung’s room.  His computer was still humming away.

 

I slowly tapped the door open and peered inside.  He was asleep at his desk again.  I rolled my eyes and made my way to his desk.  His room looked far messier than when I had been in here earlier.  Now there were papers strewn around the room and a bunch of energy drink cans piled up on the desk.  So much for ‘energy’, I’d barely seen this guy awake at this point. 

 

His glasses sat askew, lifted up at one side by his head resting in his folded arms.  His eyes were dark, almost bruised, he clearly didn’t sleep that much, despite it being the only activity I had witnessed him doing.  He had a heart-shaped face; wide cheekbones, pointed chin.  Though, his skin was sallow, suggesting he didn’t spend much time outdoors.  His hair was fuzzy and had started to go greasy, like he hadn’t showered for a while.  Despite this, he was still attractive, though not in the overwhelming and ethereal way that Zen had been; Saeyoung was unexpectedly beguiling, if you got close enough.  He had a peaceful smile on his face, but no doubt he would be grumpy when I woke him up like last time.  I smirked and poked him in the cheek.  He recoiled, flailing his arms around, nearly hitting me and falling off his chair at the same time. 

 

I stepped away from him as he readjusted his glasses. “Take me shopping.” I blurted coldly.

 

He blinked a few times, not quite registering my words so I repeated myself.  “Take me shopping, Saeyoung.” 

 

“Why?” He mumbled sleepily.

 

“Do you expect me to eat cup noodles?  I want to buy some real food.”

 

“Snob.” He groaned, rubbing his face against his arm.  “You sound like my brother.”

 

I rolled my eyes.  “Just take me to the supermarket or something.  I would assume I’m not allowed to go on my own?”

 

He sighed.  “Fine, just give me a minute.”  He moaned while rummaging around on his desk, lifting papers and throwing them around until he eventually found a set of keys.  Then he began shuffling around his room, lifting dirty clothes and looking under his duvet before he grumbled to himself and flopped down on the floor to look under his bed.  He stretched his arm out and wriggling it around for a while until he shouted, ‘Aha’, and pulled out a wallet.

 

“Always in the last place you look.” He grinned lazily while clumsily tossing the wallet around between his hands.

 

I gazed at him incredulously.  “If you say so…”

 

He shambled out of the room, so I followed.  We went upstairs and through one of the doors I hadn’t explored, which led to a large garage filled with expensive looking cars.  Saeyoung slipped on some shoes while clicking the open button on his keys, then walked over to the one that was flashing.  I eyed the empty key rack beside me on the wall; had he misplaced all his other keys?  I joined him beside the car after I had slipped on my own shoes.  When I reached the car, he spread his arms out as though presenting it to me.

 

“What do you think of my baby?” He gushed, awaiting my response with trepidation.

 

“It’s… shiny?”  I offered hesitantly.  I knew nothing about cars, especially sports cars.  “Won’t we stand out in this car?”

 

“Nah, don’t worry about it.”  He smiled, waving away my concern and sliding into the driver’s seat.

 

...

 

When we came out of the store, I exhaled deeply in annoyance; my prediction had come true.

 

“What did I tell you?” I chided, gesturing to the crowd that had gathered around Saeyoung’s car taking pictures of it and selfies with it, careful not to actually touch the car.

 

“This is why I stay at home and eat my watery noodles.”  He dead-panned, readjusting his hold on the shopping bags.  He held the bags out to me and I took them from him as we walked over to his car.  He flailed his arms around ‘shooing’ people away like they were birds rather than people.  Dismayed, people began to slowly filter out from the area, so I began to stride over to the car, looking forward to dumping the bags down on the backseats.

 

“See, it’s fine.” He declared jovially, taking the bags from my hand and carefully placing them in the back of the car so they wouldn’t tip over.

 

“This time.” I warned playfully, wiggling my fingers at the car like I was placing a curse upon it.  He looked at me in mock horror as we sat down in our seats.

 

“I didn’t know you were an evil witch.”

 

“Now all the pigeons will shit on your car.”  I laughed malevolently.

 

He smirked.  “Wow; you’re heinous.”

 

...

~Saeyoung~

 

By the time we got back to the bunker, the sun had started to set, reminding me of how long I had been working for and how long I had ignored her for.  She’d made dinner without even asking for my assistance, not even to find out where certain utensils where housed.  I had sat at the kitchen island, watching her lazily, mesmerised by her graceful cooking skills.  I’d been impressed watching Saeran and MC cook before, but she had made even the two of them look shoddy and sluggish in comparison.  She made it look so simple and easy, while I would have likely set the kitchen sink on fire by now.  She kept raising her eyebrow at me as I watched her intently.  She’d served the food, sat down beside me, and we ate in silence.  It was awkward.  We didn’t quite know what to say to each other.

 

“What do you think?” She asked casually, gesturing to her half-empty plate.

 

“It’s the greatest food I have ever tasted; god tested, god approved.” I grinned enthusiastically.  Her face bled to a soft pink and she let her hair fall forward to hide her expression.

 

“Thank you.”  She whispered breathily, her gaze affixed onto what remained of her meal.

 

“What’s wrong, can’t you take a compliment?”  I teased, revelling in her small facial changes as she held back an awkward laugh.  A small quirk of her lips; a slight dimple to her cheeks.

 

“I just… don’t receive them very often.” She stuttered, her voice quiet.  “I spend a lot of time alone.”

 

I winked.  “Well you’ll always receive them from me.”  Her face steamed, her head turning slightly to one side, causing a curtain of hair to cover her features.  She rolled her shoulders before lurching forward to press a kiss to my nose.  I recoiled, having to steady myself on the side so I wouldn’t fall off the stool.  She tittered behind her hand before slipping off the stool.  She took the dishes away and began to clean up.

 

“Hey, I can do that if you like.”  I offered, my voice shaky.

 

“It’s fine.  I’m under the impression you don’t really clean that much anyway.”  She accused, her tone indicating that she was playing with me.

 

I smiled at her back lopsidedly.  “I clean… sometimes.”

 

She stifled a giggle.  “Moving rubbish from your desk to your floor doesn’t count.”

 

“What.”  I elongated for effect.  “But I was taught by the great cleaners in the sky.”

 

She snorted.  “Are you sure you weren’t in hell?”

 

“So that explains all the chains…”

 

...

 

I awoke with a cold chill.  I shivered and rolled over onto my side, wrapping my arms around me for warmth.  I groped around aimlessly, trying to find my duvet when I heard breathing.  It was soft and quiet, but audible in the otherwise silent room.  I flinched and pulled my arm back to my chest.  I finally opened my eyes, but the room was, of course, dark and blurry.  I slowly crawled to the edge of my bed and fumbled around for my glasses.  I eventually found them and sighed in relief, sliding them on.  I blinked as my sight slowly adjusted to the dim light. 

 

I realised my duvet had fallen off of the bed.  I reached out, slowly pulling the duvet back, when my breath caught in my throat.  Hae was lying there, sprawled out on the carpet.  She scrunched up her face and her eyelids were twitching.  My eyes roamed down her body to see her wearing my clothes.  I felt a glimmer of possessiveness at the sight of it.  She had forgotten to bring her own nightclothes and MC hadn’t left any here since she tended to wear my clothes to bed as well.  Before I realised what I was doing, I brushed the hair away from her face.  Her skin was soft, but cold.  She shivered, her face pressing into my hand for warmth.  She let out a whimper before wrapping her arms around mine in a tight grip.  I shook my arm slightly, but she wasn’t letting go.  I gently poked her cheek.

 

“Hae?” I whispered as her eyelids fluttered open.  She looked hazy and confused.

 

“Saeyoung…?”  She mumbled drowsily.  When she realised she was holding my arm, her eyes snapped open and she shuffled away from my bed with a yelp.

 

“What are you doing in here?” I hissed, my voice slightly irritated as she glared at me accusatorily from across the room.

 

Her mouth fell to a frown and she wrapped her arms around her knees, burying her face in them.  “I… didn’t want to be alone.”  She muttered in shame as I yawned.  “I thought I could just rest next to your bed for a while…”

 

“Fine, just sleep in my bed.  I’ll sleep on my chair.” I grumbled before looking around for a blanket.  She slowly rose from the wall and put her hand on my arm.  I turned to look at her.

 

“You can still stay on the bed.  Just put one of the pillows between us.”  She insisted before picking up a blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders. 

 

I shot her an incredulous look before sneering.  “And that’s fine with you?”

 

“You just… make me feel safe, okay?  I’m all restless and jumpy on my own.”  She whined, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.  Her personality had seemingly changed in a matter of hours.  She had always been calm and confident, but now, I realised it was just a disguise.  I felt terrible.  She had told me that she’d never been alone before, no wonder she was scared.  Her family were powerful, and she’d always been under their thumb.  I knew she was in an arranged engagement to an older man she had never even met.  I buckled under the guilt and softly stroked her hair.

 

“I’m sorry...” I whispered apologetically before she crumpled into my chest, her hands balling into my t-shirt.  She cried softly into my shoulder and I half-heartedly petted her hair.  It felt wrong to submit to her embrace, but whenever I tried to pull away she just held onto me tighter.

 

“Hae, you’re fine now.  Like you said, I’ll keep you safe.”  She drew back from me, looking into my eyes before finally nodding and sitting down on the edge of my bed.  I picked up the blanket, wrapped it around myself and set my glasses back down on the table.  Her eyes widened in surprise, but I crawled onto my side of the bed, snuggled up in the blanket.  I turned my back to her.  I felt the bed move as she slid into the covers.  She scooted back towards me until she was mere centimetres away from my back.

 

“Thank you.”  She whispered, I could tell by her voice that she was smiling.

 

I shifted uncomfortably.  “Goodnight Hae.”

 

...

~Hae~

 

When I woke up, I felt something tickling my face.  I opened my eyes to see Saeyoung’s face an inch away from my own.  His breath was softly blowing my hair onto my face.  My cheeks flamed.  I must have rolled onto him in my sleep, the duvet acting as a thin barrier between us.  I had quickly fallen asleep beside him last night, wrapped up in his comforting scent, now it was pressed against my face.  I reluctantly drew back from him and he groaned.  I muffled a laugh with my hand.  He looked so peaceful when he was asleep, it was nice to see compared to the distancing act he had been pulling for the last so many hours.  I don’t know how one man could go from crazy hyperactive to deadly serious in just a few moments.  His true personality was hidden beneath so many layers it was inconceivably annoying just trying to have a single conversation with him. 

 

He and Mina were definitely involved with something far more serious, or what was the point of all the secrecy?  This was far bigger than myself; it was completely unnecessary to go to these lengths just to avoid our parents.  I had assumed it had something to do with my family beyond Mina’s involvement as well; why else would Saeyoung be looking at our family pictures?  I just hadn’t decided what it could be.  Our cousin, if she was the woman in the photo, was somehow important in the grander scheme of things.  I would have to work up the courage to ask Mina, or just watch unfold in front of me.  If it was something big, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be involved in it, though Mina seemed to be protecting me from it, so I assumed she didn’t want me to be involved either.  I wanted to find out what was plaguing us and then make my peace with it, then I could try to move on with my life as normal.

 

I looked down at his innocent face and caressed his jawline.  His nose wrinkled in confusion.  It wasn’t terribly early, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep any longer, so I carefully crept out of Saeyoung’s room.  I made my way upstairs and the cats greeted my excitedly, begging to be fed.  I slipped on my jacket for a bit of extra warmth.

 

 

...

~Saeyoung~

 

I was tapping away, working on a report when Hae had slinked into my room.  She breathed against my neck, making me jump, the chair rolling back from my desk.  Luckily, I didn’t hit her with the chair.  She laughed hysterically in response to my reaction, holding onto her stomach.  I glowered, turning back towards my monitor, closing the applications I had been working on.  I knew Hae would be here for a while.

 

“Can I help you?” I asked, sounding grumpy and tired.

 

“Aww, poor baby.”  She teased before plopping down in my lap.  I froze, my arms dangling down at my sides, as far away as possible without it looking awkward.  She giggled but ignored my discomfort.  She leaned forward to browse the movies on the streaming service I had shown her yesterday.  I stared at the back of her head, willing her to move away from me.  She pointed at a movie on the screen.

 

“Watch this with me.”  She commanded excitedly.

 

“We can watch it upstairs-” I began before she interrupted me.

 

“Nah, I’m fine here.”  She replied, either completely oblivious or feigning ignorance to mess with me.

 

“Fine…” I grumbled, trying to casually place my arms on the chairs armrests before I lost all feeling in them.  She leaned forward to steal my bag of chips off the desk before snuggling back into my left side.  She lightly rested her head against the top half of my own.  I looked at the top of her head painfully.  This was very reminiscent of spending time with MC and I didn’t exactly appreciate the conflicting emotions Hae was inducing.  I tried to pay attention to the movie Hae had put on, but I kept staring at her face in the reflection of the monitor.  I had no idea how long we’d been watching it for either.  It was some kind of old anime movie, it seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

 

“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”  She blurted suddenly, turning to look at me with a strange expression I couldn’t place.

 

I gulped, scrambling for an appropriate excuse.  “You’re just… a lot like MC is all, it’s a little odd.”

 

She shrugged nonchalantly.  “Well we are sisters.”

 

“Yes, but you’re not exactly close anymore.  My brother and I are twins, yet we’re the complete opposite in personality.”

 

“I suppose so.”  She pouted questioningly.

 

I waggled my eyebrows at her.  “Don’t worry, I like you too.”  Her eyes widened, and she looked away from me in embarrassment, refocusing on the movie.  I let out an awkward chuckle to myself under my breath.  _What am I doing?_   She’s the sister of my sort-of-girlfriend; or are we even that close anymore?  It felt more like I was a close friend who merely had a crush on MC.  As though we had shared an uncomfortable kiss once, and so we vowed to never speak of it again, more for her benefit than mine.  Then she got a new boyfriend and I was a third wheel, except in reality, I was the third wheel to my own god damn brother and the fourth wheel to a guy who won’t even let me look after his cats without an explicit contract!  _What is my life, honestly…?_  

 

I sighed glumly.  I realised that this situation was mostly of my own construction, I had kept pushing her away until she had fallen into a deep expanse, far from my reach.  Jumin had just been there to catch her and pull her out of it.  I hadn’t even noticed MC had started working for Vanderwood until he’d called me a few times to ask me where she was.  I’d been angry of course, after all the effort I had put in to disassociate myself with that business, only for my girlfriend to get swallowed up by it on my behalf.  But I’d never brought it up, _of course I hadn’t._   I’m apparently too feeble for that.  I’d slowly watched her bury her original personality deeper and deeper, just like I had done.  I might have primarily been a hacker, but I’d done my fair share of infiltration jobs over the years.  I knew what they demanded, what they took away from you; she’d not even had the luxury of the escapism that I’d had.  Hacking was far less strenuous.

 

Hae on the other hand, was exactly how I remembered MC to be when I had first spoken to her.  Bright and cheerful yet hiding a darkness deep within.  The MC of today had already let the darkness overcome her and she had dealt with it by wearing it as armour, brandishing it whenever I came to pull her back towards me.  No wonder she had enjoyed their company more than my own.  Saeran exuded darkness and Jumin was serious to a tee.  It felt like I was a child she had outgrown and left behind.  She had been serious before, no doubt about it, but she had been far more casual and complacent.  Now every angle had sharp edges, baiting you to cut yourself on them to save her the effort.

 

Looking at Hae was like looking at someone I thought had been lost to me for centuries.  I knew I was impressing all my past feelings onto her unreservedly, almost aggressively, in the hopes that she would reciprocate.  She drew me in like a moth to a flame, the same way I had been drawn to MC from the beginning, despite my attempts to distract myself from acknowledging it.  She wouldn’t let me, and neither would Hae apparently, constantly badgering me for my consideration.  I didn’t deserve it then, and I certainly didn’t deserve it now.  I’d had enough chances.

 

I suddenly blinked, startled by feeling her weight shift onto me.  I tensed; she’d curled up in my lap, resting her head on my shoulder, her soft hair brushing against my jaw.

 

“Saeyoung…?” She whispered, her warm breath on my neck.  I clenched my left hand into a fist, my nails digging into my palm, willing myself to ignore her.

 

“Yes?” I forced out coldly in response.

 

“What happens when Mina comes home?”

 

“I… suppose you’ll go to live with her and do whatever else you were planning on doing with your life.”  I ground out slowly, realising I would probably be on my own when Hae left.  I had no idea where Saeran had ran off to and I hadn’t had time to look for him either.  He hadn’t taken any of his things from what I could see, so I hoped he would return soon.  He had a habit of leaving without warning.

 

She snorted at my bitter response, before her voice turned adorably soft.  “Could I still come to see you?”

 

“I don’t know…” I sighed, looking away from Hae’s pleading expression.  I heard her growl under her breath.  She forcefully grasped my face and forced me to meet her gaze, her eyes burning into my own.

 

“Why not?”  She grumbled, sounding disappointed.  What did she want from me?  I had conceded to drive myself away from MC, maybe from the RFA altogether.  Now I was ‘free’ from the agency, I wanted to move on from all this cult bullshit, live a normal life like Jaehee, Zen and Yoosung.

 

I exhaled slowly.  “It’s not up to me-”

 

“If it were up to you; would you want to see me?”  She pressed, her lips straightening into a thin line.  I paused for a moment, actually considering Hae’s question.  Hae was outside of all of this, for the most part.  Her family might be involved somehow, but she clearly knew nothing about Mint Eye or the cult underbelly of South Korea other than what she had seen reported on the news.  I craved to be so uninformed.  I never should have let Saeran out of my sight.  I had the opportunity to keep him away from this, but I allowed him to chase MC back into the darkness I’d only just dragged him out of.

 

“Yes.”  I breathed resignedly.  Her mouth quirked into a soft smile.  She leaned into my face and my eyes widened in apprehension, my body like a statue.  She pressed her forehead to mine before wrapping her arms around my neck.  I twitched slightly, holding back the desire to melt into her embrace. 

 

I swallowed, managing to recuperate some of my composure.  “Why do you want to see me?”

 

“Because I… like you Saeyoung.”

 

I scoffed.  “You’re just attached to me because I’m the first person you’ve spent any time with.  You’d be all over Zen if he had looked after you instead.”

 

“That’s not true… you make me laugh when I’m miserable, you’re kind-hearted and you’re one of the only people I’ve ever met that’s told me the truth, even if it wasn’t the whole truth.”  She added at the end in jest, reminding me that I had brushed off most of her questions about my life.  “I’m not asking you to fall in love with me or marry me, I just want to spend more time with you and get to know you better.”  She explained nonchalantly.  I found it difficult to meet her gaze and stared at the wall instead. 

 

“Saeyoung… look at me.”  She lightly grasped my hands and brought them to her face.  My eyes snapped back to hers.  She gently smiled at me before kissing along my knuckles.  I tried to stifle a sigh with my shoulder.

 

“I can’t promise you anything… but I want to see you too.”  I stammered, undecided on whether to enjoy the attention I was receiving from Hae.  I should have pushed her away; told her about me and MC, but I didn’t want to let her go.  She wrapped her arms around my neck and snuggled into my body.  I tentatively wrapped my arms around her back.  I wish we could just stay in this moment, but I knew it was going to blow up in my face, so for now, I suppose I should enjoy it while it lasts. 

 

Because, it certainly wouldn’t last.

 


	19. Day Fourteen & Fifteen: Chased

I woke up in the middle of the night to get a drink from the kitchen.  I went to turn the light on, but apparently, I didn’t need to, the lamp was already turned on.  Hae was sat on the leather chaise longue in the corner with her knees up against her chest, gazing out of the window.  I could see in the reflection that she was or had been crying.  My gaze flew down to her phone; she had it resting on the edge with the screen open.  Her phone buzzed, and she scrambled to check it.  I silently held my ground at the doorway, observing.  She groaned quietly in frustration and threw it back down, causing it to nearly bounce off the chaise longue and onto the floor.  I quietly padded over to her and she met my eyes in the reflection.

 

“Hae…” I began evenly before she snuffled.

 

“What is he to you?”  She demanded, her voice squeaking from crying for who knows how long.  She must mean Saeyoung.  He’s the only one she had spent any time with.

 

“Do you mean Saeyoung?” Hae nodded sharply in affirmation.  Her patience was clearly wearing thin.

 

“A… colleague.” I supplied pitifully.  I wasn’t even sure of what he meant to me anymore.  It was on the verge of ‘nothing’ at this point.   

 

“Then why did you take him away from me?!” She cried beseechingly, collapsing against the chair in grief.  I started to reach out to her when she scrambled back from me as far as the chair would allow, like she was a wild animal.

 

“Hae… what happened?” I inquired gently.  It wasn’t going to do any good for me to lecture her about age gaps or whatever shred of a relationship I had with Saeyoung.  For all I knew, Saeyoung had been the first person she’d ever connected with besides me, and I had left, again, just as soon as I had arrived.  Saeyoung had been there for her when I hadn’t.  I couldn’t help but blame myself for this.  I should have begged Jaehee to look after her.  She’d needed the support from her big sister and I had effectively abandoned her.

 

“He wouldn’t talk to me.  I’ve been waiting all day for him to contact me until I got… fed up and started to constantly text and call him and he ignored me all day until he sent me this.” She threw the phone at me and I thankfully, managed to catch it.

 

Saeyoung:  Goodbye, Hae.

 

I seethed.  Typical _dramatic, detached_ Saeyoung.  He couldn’t just explain what was going on or give an actual answer.  He always had to be mysterious and flaky.  No doubt this had broken Hae’s resolve.  First, I abandon her and now Saeyoung.  Both outcomes were my fault.

 

“I loved him once…” I began tentatively, trying to gauge her reaction.  She seemed to be calm; listening intently.  “Life got in the way and we grew apart.  I thought we had come to an understanding; but then I ask him to take care of you and I… see him cuddled up with you, after what, two days?  I’m not going to treat you like a baby, but you’re still my littler sister and Saeyoung is five years older than you, it’s as though he… took advantage of you.”  I breathed gloomily.  I hoped she understood how I felt.  She just stared at me; lost in her emotions.  Her gaze steadily fell to the floor, no doubt overwhelmed.  I slowly sank down against the window next to the chaise longue, grateful for the cool glass. 

 

“Did he do this to you?” She whispered emptily.

 

“Sort of.  He tries to deal with his problems by pretending they don’t exist.”

 

“I want to see him.” She rumbled, her hands gripping firmly onto her dressing gown.  “I want to hear his explanation.”

 

I exhaled slowly.  Hae was old enough to handle her own problems, and I would be there to let her lean on me if she needed me.  “I can help with that.” I answered begrudgingly.  I would support her decision no matter what, but I wouldn’t be forgiving Saeyoung anytime soon.  He’d need to earn my trust again, if he even wanted to try.

 

I closed my eyes, listening to Hae’s ragged breathing, slowly calming down.

 

When I opened my eyes, I was surprised to find myself curled up in bed.  The room was pitch black thanks to the heavy curtains blocking out any semblance of light.  I would need to get some thinner ones, or I was never going to wake up in the morning.  I stretched out, flicked on the lamp, turning to the side to look at the time; but I was yet again, surprised to see a fresh cup of green tea waiting for me.  I carefully cupped the teacup in my hands, inhaling the fresh scent.  _Calm, Comfort._

 

I slowly sipped the tea, savouring the taste and its warmth.  I picked up my phone to check my messages.  It was 9am.  I hadn’t slept in this late for a long time.  I had a message from Jumin, simply telling me to take the day off.  I suppose I could use the day off to figure out what Hae wanted to do now she was “free” from my parents.  I finished my tea, slid on my slipper-socks and made my way over to the main room.  Hae wasn’t around, but Saeran was lounged on the rounded corner sofa doodling in a small book.

 

“Thank you for the tea.” I smiled.  He returned the smile, setting his book down next to him.  “How did you know I was awake?”

 

“You were basically half-awake when I went in, mumbling and rolling around.”

 

I scoffed.  “Did you tuck me in too?” I teased.

 

“Maybe…” He mumbled, his mouth slowly curling into a smirk.  I blinked in surprise.  “Seemed a shame for the both of you to neglect the fresh beds.”

 

I laughed softly. “Well… thank you, I guess.  What are you doing today?”

 

“I’m not sure.  I should probably go and see Vanderwood at least.  My Brother though...”

 

“Hae wants to see him… I’m not exactly pleased, but Hae is perfectly capable of handling it herself.  She doesn’t need me to hold her hand and defend her.”  I sighed in resignation, flopping down on the sofa next to him and crossing my legs.

 

“We should probably go separately… I think he barely coped with our combined disappointment the last time we saw him.  Never mind some sort of weird whirlwind romance thing.”

 

I grimaced.  “Please don’t call it that.  It wasn’t that long ago that I was his whirlwind romance.”

 

“Guess it runs in the family.”  He sniggered.

 

“You better not be talking about the Choi’s predilection of sweeping me of my feet.”

 

He grinned coquettishly.  “If that’s how you want to see it MC.  I was merely referring to my brother stealing the hearts of the Ryu family.”  I growled under my breath.

 

“Will you two stop being gross now?  I want to eat breakfast.” Hae simpered, looking pleased with herself.  At least she was feeling better, or at least, I hoped so.  The sleep had done her some good.  Her eyes were no longer raw and puffy, nor did she look as drained and exhausted as last night.

 

“Want any help?”

 

“Nah, I’m good.  What sort of omelettes do you guys want?”

 

“Spanish.”  I smiled.

 

“I have whatever, thanks.” Saeran mumbled while doodling in his book again.  I hadn’t even noticed him pick it back up again. 

 

I leaned towards him conspiratorially.  “You know, I forgot to ask; what did you and Jumin talk about in Valdez?”

 

Saeran snapped his eyes up from the book, his cheeks tinted rose.  “I… have nothing to say about that.” He spluttered.

 

“Oh, come on.”  I smiled sweetly.

 

“Ask Jumin.”

 

“Saeran, you’re just making me more interested.”  I groaned, almost pouting.

 

He sighed.  “It was about you…”

 

“And…?”  I elongated playfully.

 

“And us…”

 

“As in you and Jumin, the two of us, or all three of us?”  I questioned intently.  He met my gaze and could see that I wasn’t going to let this go.

 

“Jumin and I were talking about how this thing-” He gestured between the two of us. “-was going to work.  Though he was mainly disappointed in how I dealt with… you in Valdez.  I think he could tell I was disappointed enough by myself though to really get angry at me.”

 

“That’s oddly… empathetic of Jumin.”

 

“Yes, I was surprised as well.”

 

“So, what about us?” I redirected smugly.

He sighed.  “Neither of us minded the other being with you, unless it was a _scheduled_ event.” He emphasised with his fingers.  “There were other things we agreed on, but it’s not really relevant right now.”

 

“You two planning for the future is disturbing…”  I mumbled, deciding not to press Saeran _too much,_ for now anyway.

 

He rolled his eyes.  “It was him more than me, obviously.”

 

I saw movement in my periphery and I turned to see Hae waving us over for breakfast.  We both got up to join Hae at the table.  She’d made all three of us the same; Spanish omelettes.

 

“So, what do you want to do today, Hae?”  I asked cautiously.  She gave me a knowing look as she ate her food and I sighed.  _Saeyoung._   “You don’t slow down do you?”

 

“I’d say that’s a familial trait.”  She grinned impishly.

 

“Probably.” I smiled half-heartedly, not really wanting to reflect on my family.  Nevertheless, I couldn’t avoid it for much longer.  My family clearly had ties with Mint Eye and they were looking for me.  They had some sort of purpose in mind for me.  They had done to me what they did to Hae, but it was far less _aggressive_ then it seemed to be for Hae.  My parents had merely suggested marriage to some guy they knew, they had tried to influence and push me towards it, not force it upon me.  It could have ended up the same way, I suppose, but I had left of my own accord by now.  They tried to control everything, yet they wouldn’t even allow me a place in the family business, making me out to be some sort of baby making machine with no other prospects.  Hae was now in the exact same position as I was, I wonder how long it will take for them to make “wanted” posters for her.

 

“What do you want to do for University?” I asked, changing the subject to more important things.

      

 “I don’t know to be honest.  With my scores I can basically go anywhere, but I don’t know what subject I want to do, and I’m worried about _them_ looking for me.”

 

“Haven’t you already applied to them?” I questioned pointedly, raising my eyebrow.  It wasn’t like Hae to procrastinate about important decisions.

 

She grimaced.  “Yes, though I haven’t accepted any of my offers yet.  I was thinking about studying linguistics at Seoul National University.”

 

“It would be helpful if you picked soon; it’ll make it easier for Stark to liaise with the University to give you an alias.  They won’t find you very easily, and we should be quickly notified if someone starts looking for either your real or fake name.”

 

“I’ll sort it out later, promise.” She smiled weakly before sipping her tea.

 

“I… Can take you to Saeyoung’s after we’ve been shopping if you like?”

 

“Okay.  Shouldn’t we worry about being recognised though?”

 

“I know a couple of smaller boutiques that don’t get quite as many visitors, so we should be alright.” I smiled reassuringly.  “I don’t know if they’ll have a lot of things to your taste though; they’re usually quite simple styles.”

 

She shrugged.  “It’s better than nothing, plus I’m too short to fit in most of your clothes.” 

 

I grinned, thinking back to yesterday when she had attempted to try on a pair of my jeans.  “I didn’t think you really liked trousers anyway.”    

 

“I’ll probably see you at Saeyoung’s.” Saeran quietly interjected, picking at his food rather than actually eating it.  He appeared to be lost in thought.  Hae had finished her breakfast by now and had left to use the shower.

 

“Are you sure you want to go?”

 

“I need to write up a report for Vanderwood anyway.”  Saeran deflected before picking up his plate and emptying it.  I hovered next to him as he began to wash the dishes. 

 

I gently placed my hand on his shoulder.  “You can tell me if you’re worried, I’m not going to hold it against you just because I’m angry at him.”

 

“I’m angry with him too, but I’ve never really argued with him like that since I’ve been better.  He looked pretty devastated.”  I nodded in agreement.  While I hadn’t seen his face throughout the exchange, but the changes in his tone of voice and body language made it clear how he had felt.  Relieved to see his Brother return after essentially being M.I.A., to despair as Saeran mercilessly crushed him under the weight of his treachery.

 

I gave him a thoughtful look.  “From what I know, Saeyoung just shuts down and ignores all his problems before they catch up with him, but Vanderwood probably has a better idea of how he deals with his problems than I do.  Though, I guess I… don’t really know him all that well to be honest.”

 

“Hmm… I don’t think you’re wrong about that.  Even as children, Saeyoung just ignored everything happening to him and focused on what was happening to me.  I think that’s why it hurt so much when he left, even if he believed everything was for my benefit, it’s like he had forgotten about me over the years to allow himself to function.”

 

“I guess he won’t be happy to see Hae then.” I smiled light-heartedly.  I don’t believe Saeran particularly enjoys talking about his past, so I didn’t want to press him on anything.  I had the feeling that Saeran would tell me whatever I wanted to know if I asked, even if it meant he had to relive painful memories.

 

He shrugged nonchalantly “Who knows.”

 

I smiled in response and left to get ready.  I quickly showered and started to put on my disguise.  I’d chosen Gothic Lolita style clothing, a long black wig and amethyst contact lenses.  It might stand out, but no-one would know it was me.  When I walked out of the bathroom, Saeran and Hae both wore amused expressions on their face.

 

“Yes, yes, it’s totally my style, I get it.”  I dismissed before we left the apartment.  Saeran had decided to drop us off where I wanted to shop on his way back to the bunker. 

 

The street was fairly sparse seeing as it was a weekday, but there were a few small groups of people seated in cafes or shopping themselves.  One woman in particular had caught my eye, she looked beautiful, like a model, with long flowing locks beneath an ultra-wide spencer boater.  She wore a full-length coffee-coloured V-neck chiffon dress with long-sleeves.  She certainly stood out among the usual crowd of shoppers, similarly to myself, but more because she didn’t look like she belonged amongst a collection of independent shops down a small side street.  Hae hadn’t noticed I was distracted and had began to pull me into the closest shop.

 

We spent a long time looking around and comparing fabrics before she finally settled on a few outfits, her favourites being a frilled floral print chiffon minidress and a few pastel toned petal-collar shift dresses.  While I was waiting for her to try the dresses on, I found myself staring out of the window at the street again.  The woman was still seated outside one of the cafes, except someone had joined her; someone far more familiar.  I squinted my eyes and then widened them in surprise.  _Yoosung._

 

I slowly made my way back to the dressing room, trying to look natural and leaned against the door my sister had been changing in.

 

“Hae, could you hurry up please?  We need to get going.” I urged, carefully choosing my words to sound inconspicuous to outsiders, but urgent enough for Hae to understand their importance.

 

“Yeah, one sec.”  She replied hastily before swinging the door open.  She was dressed, but all of the clothes she’d been trying on were strewn around the room.  I helped her to gather them up and place them back onto their respective hangers.

 

“Don’t worry, we can still buy the clothes.” I chuckled, before pulling out my phone and texting my discovery to Saeran and Jumin, the only two people that knew we were here anyway.  I placed a light hand on her back, guiding her towards the cashier.  I leant over her shoulder to whisper quietly in her ear.

 

“I’ll walk you outside but keep moving to the subway and get on it for one stop.  Then to go this building-” I held out a small scrap of paper with Zen’s address scribbled onto it. “-and wait for me to come and pick you up later.”

 

“What about you?” She asked emotionlessly, worry lining her face.

 

“I’ll be fine, trust me.  I know my way around this area, so I can lose them if they notice us.”  I explained quickly but firmly.

 

“Alright.”  She breathed, before smiling to the cashier and paying for her clothes with my card.  The woman quickly and effortlessly folded all of Hae’s new clothes like a professional.  She slid in a business card and a receipt and handed the large bag to her with an appreciative smile.  We thanked her and headed for the exit.  I made sure to leave first, shielding Hae from the interlopers.  However, they noticed us emerge from the shop immediately, as though they had been waiting for us.  They stared at me.  I wasn’t sure what their plan was exactly, they weren’t moving as of yet, so I would start by walking Hae to the nearest subway station.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

We walked at a quick but natural pace towards the station.  The two of them mechanically rose from their tables and followed us, jogging slightly to catch up.  They appeared to be unarmed, or they had at least been ordered not to harm us as they had made no attempts to shoot to kill or wound.  I guided us through a more complicated route, down narrow side streets, turning lots of corners, in the hopes of losing or confusing them so that Hae could get away from here safely.  I had checked my phone to see no-one had replied to me, though it had only been a few minutes.  I then sent a message to Zen to meet Hae at the station and quickly whisk her away.  He might not be involved with the Mint Eye side of the RFA, but he was unquestionably valiant. When we reached the subway, I couldn’t see the pair of them.  I walked down the steps and turned to look at Hae.  She was understandably afraid, but she was thankfully soldiering on.  I hoped she could make it the rest of the way on her own.

 

“You know where to go?” I asked in confirmation.  She nodded in reply.  “Good.  I asked Zen to meet you at the station, but if he isn’t waiting for you when you arrive just keep moving and get to the apartment on your own.”

 

“I understand.  Maybe I should get a disguise as well.”

 

“I don’t know if they were looking at you or me.”  I smiled reassuringly as we reached the barriers.  “Alright, get going quickly, there’s a train in a few minutes so they shouldn’t be able to follow you there.”

 

She grabbed my hand before I could leave.  “I love you.”

 

“I love you too.”  I murmured before hugging her briefly.  I watched as she swiped her travel card and sped off towards the platform she needed.  As soon as she turned the corner I switched my brain into evasion tactics.  I whipped my head around, looking for Yoosung’s distinctive hair colour, but spied no flashed of blonde, so I hurried towards the exit on the other side of the station than the side I had entered.  It was the northern exit rather than the western exit.  I continuously flicked my eyes around the station, looking out for Yoosung or the elaborately dressed woman when I realised something.  That woman did indeed look familiar.  She was the woman holding the Gaksital mask in that photo; the woman who had married my brother.  I shook the thought from my head, I had to force myself to keep moving.  I quickly checked my phone.  No messages.  _Fuck._

 

I bounded up the stairs, manoeuvring past bystanders with ease.  I was momentarily blinded by the blast of sunlight, but I moved off to the right, already knowing I needed to go that way.  I felt an arm wrap around my own, pulling me towards them.  I flung my arm out, breaking out of their grasp and I pelted down the street at a full-on sprint.  I didn’t have the luxury of checking which of the two were following me.  I had to keep moving.  I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, but I wouldn’t be able to look at it unless I slowed down and I couldn’t take that risk.  Especially if it was Yoosung that was chasing me, he would be able to manipulate me.  I wanted to trust him, but I couldn’t, especially not after I had seen him with that woman.  I could hear heavy footsteps pounding behind me, gaining on me.  It couldn’t be the woman then, she wasn’t wearing the right sort of shoes for such a flat sound.  When had Yoosung been this fast or athletic?  I turned a corner and felt him ram into my side, causing me to fall against the wall.  I scraped my arms trying to keep my balance rather than falling to the ground.  I whirled to face him and gasped at the sight. 

 

It was Yoosung, but he looked as though his soul had been drained from his body.  He looked like unknown.  The skin around his eyes was a dark deep purple, his eyes were bloodshot and crazed, unfocused.   He looked paler somehow, his face appeared to be visibly worn, like he had participated in a war.  His hair was lifeless and dull, as though it hadn’t been washed for a few days.  I staggered back, prepared to run, but he clutched onto the sleeve of my jacket and wrenched my arm towards him.  I tried to spin around, but he managed to hold on and pulled me towards him.  He pulled me close to his body, his arms wrapping around my waist, holding me to his chest.  I could feel his heavy breathing, his chest rattling against my back, a hot and ragged stream flowing along my neck.

 

“I thought we were friends.”  He giggled through deep breaths.  He leant against the wall and scrunched his hands in my clothing to make it harder to move away from him.

 

“Friends don’t stalk and chase you.”  I spat, trying to keep my feet steady.

 

“Friends also don’t run away.”  He crooned into my ear.  “At least you dressed so adorably for the occasion, did you really think I wouldn’t recognise you?”  He questioned mockingly.  His voice was high, but variable, like he hadn’t figured out his vocal range.  It was disconcerting to say the least.  Saeran had regrettably been correct; Yoosung couldn’t be trusted, but I had run after all so what does that say about me?  While we might have been correct in assuming the worst, we had still assumed the worst.  This conversation and situation could be entirely different if I had trusted him.

 

I scoffed.  “You’re hardly the only one looking.”

 

He laughed sardonically.  “That is true, but I’m the only one that can protect you.  Other pursuers may not be so kind.”

 

“I’m aware.”  I grimaced, recalling when Saeran and I had been shot at.  It was clear they hadn’t intended to hit me, but their true purpose was unidentified.

 

“Then come with me.  Be my doll.”  He implored forebodingly.

 

“What did they do to you?” I cried as his grip tightened around my waist, almost crushing me.

 

“They helped me to see my true purpose, as they will for you.  They’re very excited to have you back after so long.”

 

“What do they even want me for?”  I questioned despondently.  I really wanted all this weirdness with the cults and myself to be over.  At least when I infiltrated lesser cults they were happy to see me leave.

 

He sneered before his face warped into playful curiosity.  “You mean you don’t know even that?  We might be overestimating the RFA’s intelligence after all.”  I cringed every time he said ‘we’.  He’d fallen for their bullshit hook line and sinker in a very short period of time.  I dread to think how I would be now if they had known who I was when they captured me last time.  Would I be even worse than Yoosung?

 

“What do my parents have to do with all this?”

 

He giggled menacingly, like a Machiavellian villain.  It would have made me laugh if I wasn’t so angry.  “They’re part of the originals.  That’s all I’ll say, for now.”

 

“Originals?  As in those from the original cult?” I pressed in confusion.  His expression tightened, which suggested that he hadn’t expect me to know about the previous cult at all. 

 

“I’ll be kind enough to ask you again.  Come.  With.  Me.”  He ordered, spitting out each word with venom.  He was deflecting angrily; I suppose his assertion about intelligence hadn’t been too incorrect after all.  He’d just focused on our knowledge about the wrong information.

 

“Fine.”  I growled through gritted teeth. 

 

He gasped in surprise.  “Yes…” He groaned, knotting his fingers into the back of my hair.  “Walk this way.”  He commanded, guiding me away from wall by my scalp.  I closed my eyes, mentally preparing myself for the incoming pain I was about to cause. 

 

I swiftly planted my feet on the ground for leverage and jerked my head back as hard as I could, smashing the back of my head into Yoosung’s face.  He shrieked, burying his face in his hands, blood beginning to flow between his fingers.  I dashed around the corner, working with the adrenaline while I could, and back onto the main street until I saw another side street with a drainpipe on the wall.  I immediately latched onto it, quickly climbing up towards the flat roof.  I eventually made it to the top and rolled over the edge, collapsing on the roof from the exertion.  I laid down for a few moments to catch my breath before I cautiously peered down at the street.  I couldn’t see Yoosung.  I pulled my phone out of my pocket to see a few messages.  Zen had replied with a simple ‘Okay’, but Jumin had asked where I was.  My vision started to blur slightly from concentrating on the screen, so I decided to call Jumin to better conserve my energy.  He answered my call on the second ring.

 

“MC, what’s going on?”  He asked frantically as soon as he heard my breathing.

 

“I’m on a roof somewhere.” I offered unhelpfully, gently running my fingers though the back of my hair.  Blood.  I wasn’t sure if it was mine or Yoosung’s, but I definitely had a mild concussion.

 

“Is he with you?”

 

“I’m pretty sure I lost him when I slammed my head into his face and hurled myself up a drainpipe.”  I could feel the delirium setting in, my speech beginning to slur.  “I think I might just… slip into unconsciousness for a while…”

 

“MC!”  He shouted, trying to rouse me from my induced stupor.  “I will find you, alright?  Even if I have to climb the god damn building.”  He grumbled, but I found it more difficult to pay attention to his words.  I stared up at the sky, watching the clouds slowly pass by as I tried to calm myself down through breathing exercises.  The dizziness seemed to be fading now, only a mild concussion, if that.

 

“I’ll be fine.  I’ll be back down that pipe in no time.”  I smirked to myself.

 

“Don’t push yourself MC.” 

 

I slowly sat up, using the edge of the building for support. “I still don’t see him.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“He said he recognised me immediately, even with a disguise.  He wanted me to come with him; he sounded just like _him_ , unknown.  We had an interesting conversation…”

 

“I’m sure you can tell me all about it later.  He must have been forced to take the drugs as well, are you sure we can rely on his information?”

 

“Definitely.”  I mumbled, gradually pushing myself to stand up.  “He seemed pretty frazzled when I asked about the old cult.”  I looked around the roof and saw a fire escape on the opposite side from where I had collapsed.  “Well, it looks like I won’t have to climb back down at least.  There’s some stairs.”

 

“Have you checked that it’s safe?” He questioned in concern.  Of course; I should have thought of that.  I’m clearly fatigued.  I stumbled over to the stairs.  The alleyway was dark and unnerving, but no-one was lurking amongst the empty boxes and storage containers or hobbling up the metal stairs.

 

“It seems fine.”

 

“Where are you?  I’m in the right area.”

 

I stepped onto the fire escape.  The added weight caused it to wobble slightly underneath me, which was disconcerting.  “I ran a few streets away, but I’m not sure where I am exactly.  Though, I should be close to the station.”

 

“Can you meet me there?”

 

“I’m not sure.  That’s where he caught up with me.”  He hummed in consideration.  I carefully made my way down the fire escape, trying my best to be quiet, as to not alert any lingering presences. 

I stepped out onto the main street.  Everything seemed to be ordinary.  I couldn’t see Yoosung or the woman.  I spotted a nearby café and asked Jumin to meet me there.  Thankfully, Zen messaged me that Hae was now safely inside his apartment, so now I could finally relax.  Jumin arrived a few moments later, visibly relieved to see that I was alright.  I sat in the back of his car with him and he held my face in his hands, checking for any visible injuries.

 

“If you want to check anywhere, look at the back of my head.”  He nodded, and I turned around in the seat.  He carefully parted my hair in the middle and immediately started checking the area where I had collided with Yoosung.  He likely found it so quickly thanks to all the dried blood in my hair.

 

“You have a red mark.  It will bruise, but I don’t see anything else here.  It must be Yoosung’s blood.”

 

“Well I did basically break his nose.” I explained jocularly before turning back to face him. 

 

He sighed.  “I would like a doctor to confirm it, but I know you won’t appreciate it.”

 

I rolled my eyes in response.  “I had a mild concussion.  That’s all there is to it.”

 

He grimaced in frustration.  “There’s nothing wrong with letting someone care about you, you know?  Even if it is not ‘convenient’ for you.”

 

“You mean like the ridiculously large apartment you bought for me?”  I countered, cocking my head to the side.

 

He shrugged nonchalantly.  “I got a good deal on it.”

 

“So good that I don’t have to pay rent?”

 

He smiled bashfully before pressing a light kiss to my hand.  “It was a _really_ good deal.”


	20. Day Seventeen:  Demanded Explanations

A few days had passed, and I had reluctantly allowed a doctor to check me over to appease Jumin’s troubled mind.  I had already regaled him and the others, with the conversation I’d had with Yoosung.  He didn’t say much in response, but I could tell he was concerned.  He didn’t want me to be in the field anymore, but he respected me enough not so say anything.  He didn’t have to anyway, it was written all over his face.

 

Saeyoung was still hopeful that Yoosung could be reasoned with.  He had been closer to Yoosung than the rest of us, or at least he had been, until he had to deal with Saeran, then it had fallen to me.  Which was probably why he had been so ‘kind’ as he would put it, asking me to come with him rather than tasering me like last time _they_ came after me.  Yoosung was still in there _somewhere_ but I had no reservations about avoiding him at all costs; Saeyoung would be reluctant.  When we broke the news to Jaehee and Zen, they hadn’t wanted to believe us either, but equally, they wanted to be safe. 

 

Vanderwood’s response had been as practical as ever.  _Well at least we have some good bait material now,_ he’d ventured in all seriousness.  How lovely.  I hadn’t yet accepted how valuable of an asset I had become to Mint Eye.  To think they had been so close, on two occasions, to have me in their possession, without even realising who I was.  Though I suppose, the first time, when unknown had been watching me, my family’s creepiness hadn’t quite infected the cult yet and the second time, they only knew my fake identity.  As to whether Yoosung had filled in the blanks of my current identity, I could not be certain.  Vanderwood was not impressed at the prospect of doctoring more documents and personas for me, he only held so much patience.  He was already fiddling around with Hae’s as a personal favour to me; she didn’t hold any worth to him.  I certainly agreed that it was steadily getting out of hand, but Jumin had the final say in such matters after all, much to Vanderwood’s irritation.  Though he was shrewd enough to appreciate the position that Jumin had afforded to him.  Nobody would care about the machinations of ‘Francis Stark’, but _everyone_ wanted to earn the favour of Jumin Han.

 

Saeran on the other hand… had gone ballistic, according to Saeyoung at least.  He was still holed up in his room at the bunker, and he hadn’t come out for anything since.  Jumin had informed him immediately that I had been fine; he’d calmed instantly, but then retreated into his room indefinitely.  Vanderwood had not been pleased at this prospect, but he’d apparently been completing his assignments in a timely manner regardless, which placated his fury.  Vanderwood was far angrier with Saeyoung anyway, for shirking his duties for days without informing him.  I had considered calling Saeran, but Vanderwood had informed me that his phone was _definitely_ switched off. 

 

I had been searching online and through all our collected research for any inkling of a lead based my brief interaction with Yoosung.  Nothing had mentioned the ‘Originals’ or anything similar other than a few diary entries written presumably by Byeong-Cheol, which indicated that the members of the original cult largely accounted for the majority of members in the ‘inner circle’ of leadership within Mint Eye.  No wonder the cult had changed so dramatically when he had intervened.  Saeyoung had apparently been working on some face recognition technology to identify cult members but it hadn’t turned up anything particularly interesting as the pictures were either too outdated or not clear enough to confirm that there was an accurate match, even if he had his suspicions.  Vanderwood believed he was omitting information but couldn’t prove it.  I was meeting with Saeyoung today anyway, so I could ask him about it then.  Well, it would be more accurate to say I was taking Hae to see Saeyoung, and I had intended to see Saeran, but Saeyoung had begged to talk to me beforehand.  It was rather odd for him to act that way, so I had agreed.

 

I was suddenly broken from my daydreaming when the door opened to reveal Jumin.  He gestured to the hallway, suggesting that I was now able to leave.

 

“They didn’t find anything then?” I asked him. 

 

He ground his teeth.  “Just a mild concussion, as you said.  Though I was certainly chided for not bringing you to the hospital as soon as it happened.  I’m surprised you remained mostly unscathed judging by how damaged Yoosung’s face had been.”  Vanderwood had managed to pull the security footage from the area.  It had shown a very bloodied Yoosung staggering away into the main street.  He had managed to follow him for a while, but he seemingly disappeared inside a shop and never re-emerged.  Vanderwood had become so aggravated by it he had personally visited the location to figure out how he had escaped so easily.  His current theory was through the sewers.

 

I winked playfully.  “I must have a thick skull.”

 

He rolled his eyes in response as he guided me through the hospital with his hand against my back.  I had spent more time here recently than I would have liked to.  Maybe I wasn’t as skilled as I had thought.  Jumin remained silent until we sat down in his car.

 

“You know I can always find a place for you at C&R, if you would prefer?”

 

“As always, I appreciate the offer, but I need to see this to the end.”

 

“That doesn’t mean you have to be in the firing line.  Let Stark's people do their job.”

 

I seethed, resisting the urge to ball my hands into fists.  “I am one of Van... Stark's people.”

 

“Are you sure about that?  You barely passed any of his tests.  He’s just taking advantage of you; using you to do all the assignments the rest of them turn down or are reluctant to complete.”

 

“And that shows that I’m worth less than them or a poor performer?  I take the assignments that no-one else _can_ do, Jumin.  Besides, every time I’ve been in a dangerous situation has been completely unrelated to Stark!  I _was_ just being normal, whatever the hell that means, and they still came after me.”

 

Jumin looked away from me and sighed.  “I don’t know what else to do MC, how am I supposed to keep you safe?  All I want to do is lock you away from everyone.”

 

I stiffened slightly and felt glad that Jumin was facing away from me.  Every so often Jumin’s possessiveness would peek through the cracks and it made my skin crawl.  It reminded me of all the times my mother had locked me in my room for disobeying her, or when my father forced me to exercise for hours on end to maintain a “good figure”.  I knew Jumin’s words were serious, almost an admission of guilt for his suffocating emotions.  I appreciated the honesty, but it didn’t make it any less disturbing.

 

“I know you’re worried about me, but it’s my life, my decision.  My past… or more accurately my heritage, is always going to find me, no matter what you do.”

 

“It does not mean I don’t want to try.”  He mumbled softly, barely audible over the sounds of the street.

 

I sighed deeply in frustration.  “Don’t do this Jumin…”

 

“Do what?”

 

“Push me away by smothering me.”

 

He raised his right eyebrow.  “Isn’t that contradictory?”

 

I grumbled under my breath.  “A gilded cage hardly breeds affection.”

 

“True…”  He whispered, trailing off.  I knew that he was now lost in thought, speaking to him any more would be pointless, and if I forced him to talk to me he would only become grumpier.  These conversations took a while for Jumin to digest.  He wasn’t used to be considerate for other people, it hadn’t become an automatic response yet.  It made these types of conversations more difficult and arduous, but at least it allowed the both of us to think about things properly.

 

“We need to find Yoosung.”  I began reluctantly.  I still wanted to help him, despite our last encounter, but it made me weary.

 

Jumin’s brow wrinkled in irritation.  “Don’t tell Stark that.  I’ve already had to talk him down from at least three plans to make you a damsel in distress.”

 

I smirked.  “Probably because it’s such a good idea.”

 

Jumin however, grimaced.  “MC-”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”  I interrupted, before he could drone on about safety procedures again.  “But it is quick and direct.  Mint Eye aren’t leaving a lot of clues for us to follow this time.  Before, we only really needed Seven to find them.  Now it’s far more complicated…”

 

“They have certainly evolved.  Although, if quick and direct routes are important to you, I would suggest you confront your own family first.”

 

“Are you serious?”  I asked in disbelief.  He nodded in response.  I wrapped my arms around myself and grew quiet.  I suppose it was a valid point.  I could just turn up at my family’s house and see what happens, but that almost feels worse than running around town with a target on my back.  Going to my family wouldn’t help me save my friend, but they are closer to Mint Eye than he is.  They were probably only using Yoosung to draw us out and taunt us, or they believe we’d be more likely to let him lead us astray, right into a trap.

 

“Isn’t it better to try and get Yoosung back?  My family won’t help us there, plus I’m pretty sceptical that they’ll tell me anything about Mint Eye.”

 

Jumin’s lips quirked up into a small smile.  “I wouldn’t suggest that you ask them.  I was thinking that you could try to find any information lying around the house.”

 

I leaned my head against my hand for a moment in consideration before answering.  “I mean, I could probably get inside, but I’m not sure about getting out.  For all I know, Mint Eye members linger around the area, or my father could have even tightened up security in the house, he’s done it before….”  I recalled, acutely aware that my father did not take threats lightly.

 

He chuckled softly.  “True, it could offer little value, but we’re not going to just leave you there, MC.  Besides, I doubt Stark would mind scouring the area in advance.”

 

“I don’t know, I’m already causing him enough trouble as it is.”

 

“He’s only moody because he cares.”  Jumin smirked in jest.

 

I scoffed into the back of my hand to avoid relentless laughter.  “I don’t think you know him very well.”

 

\---

 

 

I apprehensively pulled into the bunker’s garage.  Hae and I were silent as we exited the vehicle and left our shoes outside the door.

 

“I suppose you know the code?”  She asked gloomily.  I nodded.  She scoffed and ran her fingers through her hair in irritation.  “I begged to know what the code was.  I had to ask him to open the door every time I wanted to go outside!”

 

I rolled my eyes as I punched in the code.  “It was only for a few days; I’m surprised you didn’t just watch him input the code.”

 

The door clicked and Hae nervously shifted her weight onto each foot.  “He never typed it in when I was there.  He always used voice recognition.”

 

I opened the door and gestured for her to enter before me.  She gave me a nervous look.  “You wanted to come here Hae.”

 

She looked off to the side and continued to fiddle with her hair.  “I know… I just don’t know what I want to say.”

 

“Well he insisted upon talking to me first anyway so, make yourself at home.”  I insisted, gesturing towards the room again.

 

Hae hesitated before shuffling into the Livingroom.  The room was empty, but I could hear some movement towards the kitchen.  I held up my hand at Hae to tell her to stay here.  She nodded and perched on the edge of the sofa, too anxious to get comfortable.  If Saeyoung was there, I didn’t want him to get distracted by Hae.  He could tell me what I apparently needed to hear, and then I was done with him for today.  He would suffer under the weight of Hae’s reprisal soon enough.  I approached the kitchen and saw Saeyoung actually _cleaning_ the dishes.  I nearly shrunk back in shock, but he began to turn towards me, so I quickly composed myself.

 

I crossed my arms, already irritated by his dumbstruck face.  “So, what did you want to tell me?”

 

He paused for a few seconds before placing the towel he had been using on the side.  “Can you come to my room?  I have something to show you.”

 

“Do I have to?”

 

He scratched at the stubble along his jaw.  “What I need to show you is on my computer and nowhere else.”

 

I sighed defeatedly.  Saeyoung has appropriately chosen ‘no nonsense’ mode for this conversation and I appreciated it immensely.  “Fine, but this better not be a waste of time.”

 

He briefly looked at me with his eyebrows raised, offended.  “It’s not, I promise.” He insisted, begging me to give him a chance.

 

I began to walk towards the stairs and he jogged after me to keep up with my rapid pace.  When we reached his room, he immediately sat down at his desk.  He already had a bunch of pictures pulled up.  He gestured to a particular set on the screen.  They featured me, Hae, my aunt, uncle, their child and Rika.

 

“I think I know why they want you and Hae.”

 

I narrowed my eyes at the screen.  “They think we’re related?  My aunt and uncle’s child… is Rika?”

 

“The imaging process would suggest that they share many similar features, so it is likely they are related.  However, I couldn’t find any official records of Rika’s origins or any record of what happened to your aunt and uncle’s offspring.”

 

“I would assume that my parents know; not that I can ask them.  When I came across the photos of them in the family album, my mother had told me they all perished.”

 

“Hae said basically the same thing.”  He mumbled, before his eyes widened, realising what he had just said.

 

I instantly turned towards him with a ghoulish look on my face.  “What?!” He shrunk away from me in his chair.  “What do you mean she knows?!  What did you tell her?”

 

“I didn’t tell her, she came into my room while I was analysing-”

 

“Oh, and she just didn’t say anything?  Fuck off Saeyoung, what did you tell her?”  I slammed my hands down on the arms of his chair, leaning towards him, getting close to his face.  He refused to look up at me to meet my gaze, deciding to stare at his trembling hands.

 

“I had to… explain what I was doing to Hae, she kept pestering me, and she thought I was some creep looking at pictures of her family.”

 

I clicked my tongue.  “And what did you say you were doing?”

 

“I just said that I thought Rika looked like you, so I was checking?”  He offered lamely.

 

My jaw clenched.  Hae wasn’t stupid, if he knew her at all, he would know that as well. “And she believed that?”

 

“I don’t think so, but she didn’t ask me about it again.  She thought Zen and I were both liars.”  He held up his hands in defeat.  I considered him for a moment.  I took a deep breath to calm myself and could see Saeyoung was trying to calm down as well.

 

“Do you think she knows?”

 

One of his eyes cracked open to look at me.  “About Mint Eye?  No idea, but she absolutely believed there was more to our stories than what we were saying.  Hasn’t she asked you about it?”

 

“No… she was likely too busy being heartbroken.”  I rebuked, my face twisting back into a frown.

 

“Really?” He questioned in awe.  I grimaced.  He was such a fucking idiot it was painful.

 

I pushed away from his chair, groaning in disbelief, my head in my hands.  “Do you not realise how dramatic you are?  She had no idea about us, at all, and then you seemingly threw her to the curb with no explanation.  In her eyes, all that changed was that I had returned and then you suddenly started ignoring her before cutting her out entirely.”

 

“Oh…” He whispered vaguely, retreating into his mind. 

 

I flushed with fury as he considered my words.  I snapped my fingers in front of his face.  “Hey!  We’re not finished talking.  There’s still one question I want to ask you.”  He stiffened, as though he already knew what I had been waiting to ask.

 

“Ask away.”  He breathed, barely audible.  He was brave enough to meet my gaze, but his eyes were empty and lifeless, as though I had drained his energy.

 

“Why Hae?”  I demanded with a rumble.  He didn’t answer, so I continued to fire assumed answers at him on his behalf.  “Was it because of Saeran?  Did you want revenge on me for it, even though I had tried to avoid him?  Did you decide you didn’t care about me at all anymore?”

 

“It was because of you.”  He finally whispered, replying to my original question.  I contained my anger at his obnoxiously idiotic reply long enough to raise my eyebrow.  I felt my eye twitch.  He exhaled slowly before he continued.  “She’s just like you.  How you were before I let you down.  I wanted us to return to that someday, so badly it hurt, even though I knew it was a fool’s errand.  But there she was, just like I remembered you and it was… intoxicating.  I shut myself away, but she always found a way to break through to me.”

 

“You didn’t think to mention that we were a thing?”

 

“Exactly, we _were_ a _thing,_ whatever that means _._   I wasn’t under the illusion that we were still together.  We had basically broken up.”

 

I paused at his emotional admission towards me, but I couldn’t get distracted.  “That’s not the point.  If you had said that we had previously been together she wouldn’t have come anywhere near you.”

 

His eyes narrowed slightly.  “Well you didn’t tell her either.”

 

I glared at him while I pressed my nails into my palms.  “How the hell was I supposed to know that you were going to try to romance my younger sister?”  All this earned me was a guilty stare.  “So, you actually haven’t tried to push her away at all?  How dare you try to blame that on me.”  I affirmed, my tone darkening.  His eyes fell back to his hands.  “You’re sick.”  I growled, turning away from him.  He remained silent, so I stomped away from his room and back upstairs without looking back. 

 

Hae met me at the top of the staircase, she shrunk back slightly at the sight of my face.   I tried to rub the frustration away with my hands.  “Speak to him if you like.”  I offered emptily. 

 

She looked concerned and hurt at the same time.  “I, um… don’t know if I want to.”

 

“Well, you have a while to decide.”  I smiled weakly, before walking over to Saeran’s door.  It was locked, so I knocked lightly.  I watched Hae tentatively walk downstairs.  I could not be certain whether it had been to give me privacy or to see Saeyoung.  He’d looked so pathetic and dejected it was almost hard to be angry at him.  _Almost._

 

“Saeran?”  I called out softly, my voice echoing slightly in the empty space, devoid of life. 

 

A few seconds later I heard the door unlock.  It suddenly swung back, leaving enough time for Saeran to forcefully jerk me into his room by my arm.  He slammed me back against the door, closing the door behind me while also winding me, before wrapping his arms around my waist in a crushing embrace.  He pressed me against the door and buried his face into my neck, his stubble scratching uncomfortably against my sensitive skin.  I tried to move my face away from him, but it only made him strengthen his already bone-crushing grip, so I didn’t try again.  I slowly wrapped my arms around his shoulders and ran my fingers through his hair.  I felt him let out a deep breath.

 

“I’m fine Saeran.”  His grip loosened slightly, a small smile formed on my lips.  I inhaled shakily, grateful for the air.  My eyes flickered around his room to see colourful sheets strewn all over the room.  They all appeared to display drawings and paintings.  He had clearly spent most of his time regurgitating his complicated emotions onto paper.  No wonder no one had been able to get in touch with him.

 

“I should have been there.”  He mumbled hollowly against my neck.  “If I see him again I’ll crush him.”  He balled up his hand in the back of my shirt.

 

“Yoosung is sick-” I began before Saeran interjected.

 

“Don’t say his name.”  He brooded darkly.  He pulled away from me and held my face in his hands instead, his nails ghosting along my cheeks.  His eyes were raw, almost bloodshot as they bored into my own with an intense, but indescribable emotion.  His whole body was shivering under the strain.  My body stilled, and my pulse raced.  I had forgotten how terrifying Saeran could be.  I kicked myself for assuming he had betrayed me in Valdez, he had been relatively calm compared to this.  I should have noticed that he was still acting reasonably, compared to how he had been when he was struggling, and right now he was nearing the edge.  Hopefully, it would be easier to bring him away from it than it had been before.

 

“Don’t blame yourself.”  I managed to whisper, my voice shaking slightly. 

 

“Who else is there?”  He countered, his nails beginning to press into my cheekbones.

 

“Poor mobile reception?”  I stuttered, trying to be humorous. This, at least, seemed to wake Saeran from his state.  He quickly backed away from me and stared down at his shaking hands.  He flexed his fingers, attempting to still them.

 

“I’m… sorry.”  He mumbled before walking towards his bed and rifling through his bedside cabinet.  He pulled out a bottle of half-empty tablets.  I gently placed my hand atop his before he could open it.

 

“Saeran, look at me.”  His eyes slowly rose to meet mine and I smiled reassuringly.  “Just take a few deep breaths.”  He sat down on the edge of the bed and complied, but he remained nervous.  Saeran had mentioned that he had an emergency course of tablets in case he became erratic, but I was under the impression that Saeyoung was supposed to be the authority on that.  Saeran’s behaviour was far from problematic, reaching for his medication was overreacting and probably only for my benefit.

 

“What are you thinking about?”  I asked carefully, trying to avoid forming a leading question.

 

He tilted his head slightly for a moment before answering.  “I felt… guilty that I had been so close by when he came after you.  If I had checked my phone I could have turned around and helped you.”

 

“And how do you feel about that now?”

 

He mussed his hair.  “I still feel guilty, especially since I didn’t even call you to see if you were okay.”

 

“I will admit, I was surprised I didn’t hear from you, but everyone makes mistakes.”  I assured him whilst gently squeezing his hand.

 

He sighed and looked away from me.  “Especially me…”

 

I knelt in front of him and placed my hand on his cheek.  He stiffened, but he still turned to meet my gaze.  “It doesn’t matter as long as you try to learn from them.  You’ve been doing well Saeran, making one mistake doesn’t mean you need to give up.”  I smiled, and he lightly held my hand before leading me to sit next to him.

 

“I think hiding in my room just made me feel worse…”  He admitted sheepishly, before rubbing his eyes.

 

“You haven’t slept?”

 

He smirked.  “Not really, maybe for a few hours.”

 

I sighed sarcastically.  “Why didn’t you talk to Saeyoung?”

 

“He made me feel angry every time I saw his stupid face or heard his stupid voice.  It was probably for the best that I didn’t.”

 

I laughed softly.  “I can agree with you on that.”

 

“What did you talk about?”

 

“He believes that Rika and I are cousins.”

 

An odd look flashed across his features, before being quelled by a neutral expression.  It made me feel wary.  “Which could explain why they want you and your sister?”

 

I let out a small breath of relief.  “Perhaps.  I don’t know what for exactly, but it’s clearly something from the old cult.”

 

Saeran sighed and laid down on his bed, leaving his legs to hang off the edge.  “I really don’t like where this is going.”

 

I looked down at him for a few seconds, feeling guilty.  Saeran had merely been worried about me, yet I am treating him with suspicion.  “I’m not fond of it either.  There’s definitely a purpose behind marrying off my siblings as early as possible.”

 

Saeran crossed his arms behind his head.  “You’re thinking of that page from the book Saeyoung found?  The one about holy children?”

 

“It seems very convenient otherwise.”  I mumbled, worried.  My parents hadn’t been quite as forceful about the marriage proposals as they had been with Hae, it was almost like they were desperate, as though they were running out of time or because they now only had the one option in my absence?

 

“Maybe you should marry Jumin, then they can’t do anything about it.”  I widened my eyes and he laughed at my expression.

 

“If they want children, I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t stop them.”  I grimaced, not wanting to visualise the fleeting thoughts that had crossed my mind.

 

Saeran stroked the back of my arm.  “Don’t worry MC, we won’t allow anything to happen to you.”

 

My eyes fell to the carpet.  “I’m not sure how we can prevent it in the long term.  It seems like someone manages to find me every time I step outside or stay still for too long.  And no, I won’t confine myself to my apartment until everyone else solves it for me.”

 

“I take it that’s what Jumin wanted to do?”

 

“Of course.  He’s always been overly obsessed with my safety.”

 

“He has a good reason for it.”

 

I sighed.  “I suppose, but it doesn’t make it acceptable.  Though he did also think I could find out more information if I broke into my family home.”

 

Saeran laughed.  “Huh, I guess he’s trying.”

 

“Do you think it’s a bad idea?”

 

“Well… It has a lot of bad outcomes, surely you agree about that at least.”

 

I looked at my nails distractedly.  “I don’t know what you mean.”

 

He smiled playfully.  “Yes, you do.  If you don’t then confinement is definitely required.”

 

“Alright, fine, but it’s not much better than our Valdez plans.”

 

He rolled his eyes.  “We would have probably changed them if we knew then what we know now.”

 

“I suppose so.”

 

“If you decide to do it, let me know.  I’ll happily be your back-up.”  He smiled before patting me on the back.

 

“So long as you agree not to kill my parents.”

 

Saeran coughed in surprise.  “You actually want to protect them?”

 

I fiddled with the zip on my jacket.  “I don’t know… but I need answers rather than corpses right now.”  Saeran was about to speak before my phone vibrating cut him off.  It was a message from Jaehee, asking if I wanted to meet up with her.  I hadn’t noticed that Saeran had moved to loom over my shoulder until he spoke, startling me.

 

“You should go.  I can take Hae back home for you if you want.”

 

I rubbed the back of my head and yawned.  “I suppose a coffee would do me some good.  I’ll check on Hae first just in case she… wants to leave.”

 

“Fair enough.  I definitely think hanging out with your _normal_ friends would do you some good, beyond just the coffee.”

 

“You’re probably right.”  I mumbled as I stood up.  We quietly walked down to Saeyoung’s room.  I could hear Hae talking from the hallway since the door had been left ajar.  Her voice sounded mostly even, just a bit sniffly; as though she had been crying earlier but had calmed down.  I flexed my fingers while I considered what to do when Saeran barged into the room next to me.  I balked back from the door.

 

“MC’s leaving soon.  Are you going Hae or do you want to stay longer?”  He asked instantly, interrupting whatever they had been talking about.

 

I heard Hae’s customary huff. “I’ll go later.  Thank you for asking.”

 

“Sure.”  Saeran replied before closing the door and turning back towards me.  Saeran grinned when he saw my shocked expression.  “Come on, let’s go.”

 

Saeran escorted me back through the house and led me to my car.  His lips lightly brushed my forehead as I slipped on my shoes.

 

“I suppose I’ll see you soon?”

 

“Sure.”  I smiled as I picked up my bag from the hook on the wall.  “I’ll call you when I’ve decided what to do.”

 

“Sounds good” He smiled as he closed the door.

 

I quickly hopped into my car and drove back towards the city. 


	21. Day Seventeen: Little Cakes

The coffee shop that Jaehee suggested was situated on the outskirts of the city.  It was closer to the bunker than my apartment, so it didn’t take too long to arrive.  Despite being located in a small commercial district, there didn’t appear to be many parked cars in the area, so I could park across the road.  To my recollection, we hadn’t been to this one before, though they honestly all looked the same.  At least Jaehee enjoyed sampling all the different coffee beans they possessed.  She still dreamt of starting her own coffee business one day and had been saving any left-over money from her salary to achieve this.  It was a slow process, but it gave Jaehee a goal to work towards and it kept her motivated when fulfilling the less desirable aspects of her job, or more specifically, when dealing with anything related to Jumin’s cat obsession.

 

I entered the coffee shop and was bemused to find that Jaehee had not arrived yet.  I quickly checked my phone; no messages.  I felt uneasy, so I quickly called her.  I waited for a few moments, but she didn’t answer.  I looked around the café, suspicions slowly rising, but there was nothing out of the ordinary in the café.  Except for me of course, scanning the room like some sort of sentry robot.  I sighed to myself, and reluctantly ordered a coffee while I waited for her to arrive.

 

I sat down at a small table next to the window.  I quickly found myself staring abstractedly into my coffee cup, zoning in and out from reality.  It was strange to be participating in something so ordinary, and even stranger to realise how much I had missed just doing… nothing.  I hadn’t understood how tired I had become of running around, completing fetch quests like I was a character in an RPG.  The days passed by in a flash while I toiled away on my laptop, searching through archives and records for hours to only find one titbit of information.  When I wasn’t researching, I was trying to find the ‘suspicious’ people identified by Vanderwood’s team, if I agree with their assessment I then befriend the suspicious individual and they may eventually lead me to their cult.  The worst part was pretending to be indoctrinated into the cult and judge whether they were dangerous to society.  This explained why the government was interested in our work, as many of the cult’s objectives revolve around destabilising the government or related institutional systems.  On reflection, the work I did for the RFA was far less stressful than what I was doing now.  I did still, on occasion, organise RFA parties, but I often did not have enough time to attend them anymore unless Jumin insisted upon it.  I was swiftly broken from my reverie when a familiar, soft voice crooned behind me.

 

“Don’t look so gloomy, Sweetie.”

 

I let out a small yelp in surprise when I heard Zen’s voice behind me.  I quickly whipped my head around to see him standing behind my chair with a cheeky grin on his face.  I paused for a few seconds as I observed his outfit, black wig, jeans and a white long-sleeved t-shirt; it must be for a new role he was currently working on.

 

Regardless, I beamed.  “Hyun!  It feels like it’s been so long since I’ve seen you.”

 

He chuckled.  “I know, right?  I don’t know how you’ve survived without seeing my handsome face.”

 

“It’s been a daily struggle.”  I smiled lopsidedly, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.  “I didn’t know you were coming too.”

 

“Oh, do I have a story for you.”  I quirked my eyebrows up to show my interest and he began to recount his story with a grin.  “Jaehee messaged me since I was in the area, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make it.  Luckily for me, a few moments after that, an assistant spilled my co-stars drink on the dress she needed to wear for the scene we were just about to practice.”  I spluttered in amusement and he winked at me before continuing.  “The costume designer was furious and said it would probably take a few hours for her to either clean the dress or fix up the back-up dress to make it look identical.  The director, understandably, also blew a fuse and demanded that everyone just ‘get the hell out of my sight’, so here I am to grace you with my beauty instead.”  He regaled, before tipping his head and extending his hand towards me in a dramatic half-bow.

 

I giggled behind my hand.  “Ah, what a heart-warming tale you weave, Zenny.”

 

“I always try my best for my favourite fans.”

 

I smiled, slightly bashful, before I noticed that he didn’t look as put together as he usually did.  “On a side note, you do look kind of tired.”

 

Zen placed a hand to his chest and shook his head, feigning offence.  “Ah, I’m sure it’s just the dark eye make-up; I’m playing an eccentric private investigator in a new musical, ‘Quietus Account’.”

 

I cocked a questioning eyebrow.  “Is this his casual look?”

 

“I think he just doesn’t put much effort into his appearance.”

 

I sighed and tilted my head to the side slightly.  “Are you sure that’s all it is?”

 

Zen fidgeted in his seat for a moment before running his hand through his hair.  “I’m not sure.  Are you, um… planning on doing something reckless soon?”

 

I smirked playfully.  “Are you dreaming about me again?”

 

Zen nodded weightily, which switched my thoughts to concern.  He still occasionally had these unexplained ‘visions’, and however abstract or realistic they may be, they always seemed to be at least partly true if unheeded.  Though, I still wasn’t convinced that we weren’t being tricked by some form of confirmation bias.  “I’ve been having reoccurring dream for the past couple of days, of you being locked in a dark room, slowly going crazy.”

 

“A dark room?”

 

Zen looked up towards the ceiling, trying to recall the events he had seen.  “I think it was a bedroom… it just looked like a small room with a bed in it, with no windows or any other light source.  There wasn’t even any light coming from underneath the door.”

 

I scratched my cheek as I considered his information.  “There have been a few ideas thrown around about trying to find information.”

 

“What you mean to say is, ideas about _you_ finding information?  You don’t have to beat around the bush for my benefit, MC.”

 

I frowned, before sighing in defeat.  “Alright, maybe there have been suggestions that myself, specifically, should seek out some information.”

 

Zen grinned and exclaimed “Aha!”, before continuing.  “And where might you be seeking this information?”

 

“From my… parents.”  I mumbled, turning my face away from his.

 

I heard Zen gasp in surprise as he turned on his nurturing side.  He immediately clasped my hand in his in a gentle embrace.  “MC… are you sure you want to do that?  I know you only told me about pieces of your past, but it was enough to realise that your family is a sensitive topic.”

 

I slowly turned my head back to meet his comforting gaze, his eyes pleading with me to feel his support.  “I don’t wish to see them, but this is an opportunity for us to find something worthwhile.  If I run into my family then so be it, I will deal with it then.”

 

“That doesn’t sound healthy, MC.”

 

“I know how it sounds!”  I snapped.  Zen’s eyes briefly widened before he swallowed his discomfort.  I shifted anxiously in my seat.  “I’m sorry Hyun, you’re trying to look out for me, and I shouldn’t be angry with you for that.”  I smiled, weakly.

 

“Don’t apologise.  I just… I really don’t think you should go.  The thought of it terrifies me; there’s just something about it that chills my bones.”  He murmured ominously.  To be truthful, the thought of it also sent a chill down my spine, but I really wanted this particular brand of madness to be over.  Even if I continued to look into cult activity after his venture, it was unlikely that they would be as personal as Mint Eye seemed to be, or whatever the ‘Originals’ called themselves.

 

Before I could reply, the door to the coffee shop clattered open to reveal a frazzled Jaehee stumbling inside.  Her hair was windswept, and her mascara had started to run down her face.  My eyes flicked to the window to see heavy rain darting around in a strong wind.  It began to rage against the window; I was puzzled as to how I hadn’t noticed it until now.

 

Zen immediately rushed to his feet to place his hands on her shoulders.  “Jaehee!  What happened?”

 

“I walked from the station…”  She groaned, trying to smooth down her hair and wipe the rain away from her face.

 

“Here, sit down, I’ll go get you a drink.”  He reassured before rushing away.  I pulled a packet of tissues out from my bag and handed it to her, her cheeks became scarlet.

 

“Oh no… I look like a complete mess, don’t I?”  She cried, before trying to salvage what she could of her appearance with the tissues and a compact mirror.

 

“It’s not that bad.”  I encouraged sweetly, before gently patting her shoulder.

 

“At least my shift is over…”  Jaehee murmured as she finished fixing the worst of the damage.

 

I laughed sympathetically.  “See, there’s always a positive!”

 

Jaehee smiled weakly as she shrugged off her dripping wet coat.  “Mr. Han is allowing me to have a lot more time off recently, or at least, I’m allowed to leave work earlier than I usually would.  It’s almost like he feels guilty for dumping all his work on me.”

 

“Hmm, guilt.  That sounds unusual for Jumin.”  I smirked playfully.

 

“Exactly!  Though it seems more likely that he wants to distract himself from something.  That’s usually when he overworks himself.”

 

I shot her a troubled look.  “That might be my fault.  I’m working on some… complicated projects, so I’m sorry if that’s the case.”

 

She mirrored my concerned expression.  “It’s not a problem for me, so don’t worry about it.  I would be more concerned for your wellbeing if anything, based on how tense Jumin appears to be.”

 

“I just need to make some decisions; after that I think everything will settle down.” 

 

Jaehee let out a short breath in relief.  “That sounds good.  I have faith that you’ll make the right decision.”

 

We were interrupted by the reappearance of Zen, who was now carrying a tray with three cups of frothy-looking coffee balanced on it.  He gracefully placed the tray down on the table with a slight flourish.  I blinked in confusion.

 

He winked at me when he saw my expression.  “I guessed that your drink had gone cold by now.”  I briefly glanced at my original coffee.  I hadn’t taken a single sip of the coffee, but the foam had deflated and there was an absence of steam.  I wasn’t sure how long I had been sat here staring into space before Zen arrived.

 

I smiled sweetly.  “Thank you, I hadn’t even realised.”

 

Zen retook his seat at the table between myself and Jaehee.  “So, what did you want to talk about, Jaehee?”

 

Jaehee lightly blew on her coffee, a small, contented smile on her face, before blushing when she realised Zen had asked her a question.  “Oh… yes, of course.  Jumin would like to reintroduce Rika to the RFA.”

 

Zen and I both stiffened.  Why hadn’t Jumin mentioned this to me when I saw him earlier?  Rika had only been back in the country for a few days; could she really handle that kind of situation?  She had been rather subdued the last time I spoke to her, but the situation we were in was rather erratic.  Then, as soon as we returned to Korea, he hid her away somewhere.

 

Jaehee observed our reactions.  “I’m apprehensive about the whole thing as well.”

 

“It just seems… too soon, but I don’t know how she is, or what she’s like now…”  Zen trailed off before glancing my way.  Jaehee also flicked her eyes to meet mine.

 

I fidgeted while thinking of an appropriate answer.  “I… think it’s too soon as well, although I don’t know what the purpose behind this reintroduction is.  Is it just a show of support?  Does he want her to return to party planning?  I have no idea.”

 

Jaehee’s gaze turned to the rain outside the window.  “It’s certainly sudden for Mr. Han to consider reinstating a criminal…”

 

“Jaehee…”  Zen warned, looking despondent.

 

She deeply exhaled before turning towards Zen.  “I know you don’t agree with me, Zen, but I still think Rika should have been punished for her actions.”

 

Zen scowled, and I prepared for old arguments to resurface once again.  “So, she deserves to be mistreated for the rest of her life?  Is overcoming her illness while being removed from everyone and everything she had ever known, not punishment enough for you?”  You don’t think she feels remorse?”

 

“You’re assuming that the worst possible outcome for her treatment is the only outcome.  The law is there for a reason, she would be treated fairly.”  Jaehee stated flatly, her eyes becoming cold.  I think she was offended that Zen would accuse her of not caring about Rika’s wellbeing at all, but she brushed off the comments, ignoring them entirely.

 

“You can’t believe that, surely?  How many times do we have to see these undercover reports about the mentally ill in prison and in hospitals?  The government doesn’t help them; they put them in that situation in the first place!”  Zen asserted, slowly losing his composure.  This was beginning to get out of hand rather quickly.

 

Jaehee scoffed.  “Undercover reports from shady and disgraced individuals.”

 

“Stop.”  I stated, irritation lacing my voice.  The two then turned to look at me, both dissatisfied with this conversation.  “There’s no point in arguing about this.  The only evidence we have that connects Rika to her wrongdoings, after the fire at Mint Eye’s base, is eye-witness testimony, but Saeran, Saeyoung and I would never take the stand.  All the documents are gone, it is as though it never happened.  The only remaining element of Mint Eye is the pervasive psychological impact that Rika had upon her followers, that are still considered missing, and whatever Mint Eye has blossomed into now without Rika’s influence.”  They both stared at me for a few seconds before Jaehee broke the silence.

 

“Why wouldn’t you take the stand?”

 

I tilted my head to the side while I considered my answer.  “Because I don’t know if Rika is a bad person, or just someone that ended up in a bad situation.  I have no idea what her true motivations were.  When I spoke to her, she seemed terrified of this new version of Mint Eye and seemed to feel guilty for what it had turned into when she oversaw it.”

 

Jaehee seemed to remain displeased by my answer.  “Either way, I will find it difficult to find any common ground with Rika or even consider trusting her again.”

 

“No one ever said you needed to welcome her with open arms.  I just thought it was reasonable to want to help her.”  Zen grumbled at Jaehee.

 

She made an irritated noise.  “When did I say I didn’t want to help her?  I only said that I thought she should have to face justice, even if she is our friend.”

 

“Anyway!” I emphasised, drawing their attention.  “When is this party taking place?”

 

Jaehee flashed me a look of relief from the topic change.  “Jumin wants me to organise the party as soon as possible.  He wanted it to take place tomorrow, like I don’t have anything else better to do…”  Jumin loved to lay extra-curricular activities squarely on Jaehee’s shoulders.  She was always successful, but it didn’t make it any less irritating for her.

 

“I could help if you want.”  I offered happily.  I would welcome a break from the investigation, especially if it meant I could help one of my friends.

 

She considered the proposal for a moment while sipping her coffee.  Her eyes lit up from the taste and she smiled appreciatively.  “This place is great…”  She mumbled dreamily before snapping back to reality.  “Ah, y-yes, I would be grateful if you invited everyone for me.  You have a better line of connection with the… other side of the RFA.”  She paused before handing me a piece of paper from her bag.  “This was everyone Jumin thought to invite.”  I quickly scanned the list.  It included all the RFA members, even Vanderwood and his team.

 

I blinked in disbelief.  “He thinks this can all be organised by tomorrow…?  Vanderwood’s schedule is crazy.”  His schedule wasn’t exactly the only problem.  Vanderwood had no interest in the public aspect of the RFA, I couldn’t see him readily agreeing to go to a party, even if it was only a few of us.

 

Jaehee rolled her eyes.  “Tell me about it.”

 

“Is there anything I can help with?”  Zen asked carefully.  He was probably worried that Jaehee had been genuinely angry at him from the conversation they had just had.

 

Jaehee smiled, with a small, wicked glint in her eyes.  “Hmm… I could perhaps use your influence to get access to higher quality catering options.”

 

My eyes widened in wonder.  “Please tell me that means we can get those little cakes again.”

 

“I don’t know, can you get the little cakes for us, Zen?”  Jaehee glowered playfully, trying to pressure Zen into agreeing to our plan.  I played along, giving him my best puppy-dog-eye look.

 

Zen stared at the two of us, looking flustered.  “I-I suppose so?”

 

Jaehee and I giggled in response.  “Good, make sure they can be prepared for tomorrow at least.”

 

“R-right… Do you have any places to recommend?”  He asked jadedly, looking overwhelmed already.

 

Jaehee began listing a few places the two of us had contacted before when we were planning for the RFA parties.  Meanwhile, I sent texts to Saeyoung and Saeran asking them to come to the party and began to drink my slowly cooling coffee.  A text would do little for Vanderwood and his team, I would have to call them and practically beg them to come.  I also needed to contact Jumin to scold him for this entire mess.  It seemed odd that he would think of having this party so suddenly and want it to take place so soon.  On a positive note, Jaehee was right; the coffee was great, it hit the perfect note between strong and sweet.  I smiled contentedly, allowing the liquid to warm me.  I heard another cup clink against it’s saucer, so I looked up from my coffee.  Jaehee had just finished her drink and had already started pulling her dripping wet coat back on.

 

“I’m going to have to rush off, I’m afraid.  I have a lot to do before tomorrow.  MC let me know if everyone can come tomorrow as soon as you can, so I can be prepared to change the day if necessary.”

 

“Yeah sure, I’ll get on it right away.”

 

Jaehee smiled appreciatively.  “Thank you.  I’ll be off then.  Goodbye MC, Zen.”  She waved briefly before heading out the door.  We both managed to blurt out our goodbyes, but I wasn’t sure whether she had heard us.

 

“That was… abrupt.”  Zen mumbled, shifting in his seat to face me.  I made a noise to voice my agreement with him.  “It almost feels like she just dumped her work on us for once.”  He joked.

 

I chuckled softly.  “That would be new for Jaehee, though I don’t really mind.”

 

“I’m just worried what’ll happen to me if I don’t get these ‘little cakes’ you spoke of.”  He whined lethargically.

 

I scoffed at his anguish.  “It’ll be worth it when you taste the delectable, fluffy cakey-goodness.”

 

Zen mused sarcastically.  “They better be small if you expect me to eat one.  I can’t maintain my figure if you get me addicted to cakes… especially since I’ve cut down on cigarettes.”

 

I rolled my eyes.  “It’s just one cake, Zen.  You won’t suddenly pile on the pounds.”

 

“Hmm, I don’t know… I think I’ll be stressed enough at the idea of Rika hanging out with us; I might have to shovel cake in my mouth just, so I can’t say anything stupid.”

 

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it.  She’s not overly talkative, though she did talk to me for a while when I found her.”

 

“What did she talk about?”

 

I leant back in my chair and crossed my legs while I thought back to Valdez.  “She… was surprised that you and Yoosung didn’t hate her for what she had done and wanted to help her.  She still feels guilty… she was tormenting herself with the memories.  She also seemed terrified of Mint Eye; that’s why it was so easy for me to convince her to run off with me.”

 

Zen frowned.  “That kind of makes me feel guilty for judging her so harshly earlier…  Why didn’t you tell Jaehee that?”

 

“I think Jaehee needs to see Rika for herself and come to her own conclusions.  She’s a compassionate person, but she doesn’t blindly follow other people’s opinions.”

 

“I suppose that’s true.”

 

My phone vibrated on the table and I gazed at it reluctantly.  I quickly flicked my phone screen open.  Jaehee had sent me a message outlining a likely time and location for the ‘party’ tomorrow.  “…We should probably get on with our tasks before everything starts closing for the day.”

 

Zen nodded in agreement so we both finished our drinks, put on our jackets and headed towards the café’s exit.  The rain was pounding away relentlessly, and Zen glared at its ferocity.  Neither of us had an umbrella, but I wasn’t parked too far way from here.  Zen had probably walked here.

 

I briefly placed my hand on his arm to draw his attention.  “Do you want me to drop you off at home?”

 

“No… I might call my manager first to see what’s going on.  I’m not sure if I’ll need to go back or if we’re done for today.”

 

“I can wait if you like?”

 

Zen shook his head with a smile.  “No, no, don’t worry about me.  If anything…”  He hesitated, meeting my eyes with a worried look.  My eyes bored into his as I waited for him to continue.  “Just… please don’t go to your parent’s house, even if someone goes with you, I _really_ don’t think it’s a good idea.”  His emphasis on this topic made me pause. 

 

I had been reluctant to interact with my family or revisit my family home, but Zen’s sinister warnings increased my fears, which I knew would irritate Vanderwood immensely.  He’d spent a few hours skulking around in the sewers to find Yoosung’s escape route, yet I wouldn’t even search a house that was known to me?  He knew anyone of us could look around my family home, but I would have far better insight compared to anyone else and I wouldn’t waste as much time looking inside irrelevant rooms.  Based on my discussions with Hae, while the house had been redecorated recently, the layout remained the same as it had been when I lived there.  According to Hae, they hadn’t moved anything inside of my room.  It looked exactly the same; an eerie snapshot in time, like it was a dedicated shrine to me or they remained hopeful that I would return someday, even if I was dragged home by my hair.  Although I did not want to go, I knew I was constantly being drawn back in by the idea of it; it plagued my thoughts incessantly.  If I didn’t go, I would always wonder.

 

I looked down at the floor.  Zen’s expression was full of hope for me and I didn’t want to see it twisted into something miserable.  “I don’t know if I can promise that…”  Zen’s expression began to cloud, and I knew what would happen if I stayed here and listened to his advice.  He was always successful at talking me down from any sort of dangerous plan, but I couldn’t afford to listen to him right now.  Yoosung was out there, becoming more twisted by the day, and Mint Eye were probably having a whale of a time recruiting other vulnerable people to their cause.  I was merely one piece of the puzzle regarding whatever nonsensical ideology Mint Eye was following now, people did not deserve to get hurt on my behalf.

 

“MC…”  He began, before I quickly slipped past him and ran out into the street. 

 

Heavy rain pounded against my cheeks and ran down into my eyes.  I was instantly soaked.  I briefly heard Zen calling out to me, but I tuned him out.  I couldn’t look back, even if he had decided to chase after me through the rain.  My legs felt heavy as I ran towards my car, my trousers likely weighed down by the excess moisture.  I flung myself into my seat and rushed to switch on the engine.  My view was completely obscured, but I pulled away anyway, without putting on my seatbelt or waiting for the wipers to clear the screen.  I was lucky that I didn’t drive into something or someone.  I thought I might have seen Zen standing on the other side of the street, but it could have been any random bystander observing my outlandish behaviour.  I shakily programmed my Satnav to take me back to my apartment; it was too difficult to see where I needed to go through the rain and I needed to get home quickly if I wanted to be able to get in touch with the other members at a reasonable hour.  Although, I wanted to get in touch with Jumin first just to figure out what was going on.  

 

I expected there to be resistance to the party, however I knew that most of them would likely come anyway, for their own reasons.  Vanderwood would want to covertly interrogate Rika just in case he could probe any snippet of useful information from her.  I knew Saeyoung would largely be interested in Rika’s wellbeing, but at the same time, he would probably want to ask Rika if she knew how we could find Yoosung, and Saeran… would likely come so long as he knew that I was going.  I soon had to stop at a red light, so I hurriedly set up the Bluetooth for my phone before trying to call Jumin.  I might as well get it out of the way.  Zen had tried to call me a few times in the meantime, but I had either ignored it or rejected the call.  Intriguingly, when I tried to call Jumin, he didn’t answer the phone either of the three times I called his number.  I could hear a slight static noise on the line whilst it was ringing, so I assumed he must have a bad connection somehow.  He hadn’t mentioned any travel plans today, though he also didn’t mention this last-minute party either.  I had no idea what he was up to, but I hoped this wasn’t some convolutedly reckless plan related to Rika and Mint Eye.  Vanderwood however, miraculously answered on the first ring.  He was the one person I had expected to be the hardest to contact on short notice.

 

“Stark here.”  He answered. 

 

I frowned at myself for forgetting that he had wanted to change his name to disassociate from the old agency.  Old habits died hard it seems.

 

“Hey, it’s MC, I’m sorry to call so out of the blue.”

 

I heard him sigh, no doubt expecting to receive another fountain of bad news.  “…What can I do for you?”

 

“Jumin wants to have a party for Rika tomorrow afternoon and he’d like everyone to attend.”

 

“And why does that include me?”

 

“Maybe you should ask Jumin, if you can get hold of him, he hasn’t been answering his phone.  Jaehee is already arranging the venue and other aspects of the party.”

 

I heard him mumble something under his breath.  “I suppose Miss Kang does know how to throw a lovely party, so I will accept.”

 

I blinked in surprise, that had been too easy.  Negotiating with Vanderwood was always a troublesome affair, though I did get the feeling he had a soft spot for Jaehee.  “I hope you’re not implying that my parties are insufficient…”

 

Vanderwood chuckled before evading the question entirely.  “Do I need to bring anything?  Wear a tie?”

 

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary, though bring the team as well if they’re not busy, I have a feeling we’ll end up with a lot of extra food.”  If Zen was truly worried about what Jaehee and I had said to him, he would probably overcompensate.  I could see the mountain of tiny cakes now…

 

“Fine.  You can text me the official details, but I’ll make sure that we’re all free after five.”

 

“Sounds good to me, I’ll let Jaehee know.  Though while I have you, how did the sewer search go?”

 

Vanderwood hummed in irritation.  I could feel his eyes rolling from here.  “I had a nice fire afterwards when I burned all my clothes… but besides that, it seems like Yoosung is not the first to use the sewers as an escape route.  There was a lot of odd items down there that I collected for analysis.  The route they seem to be taking most often, based upon the _breadcrumbs_ they left, leads to a subway station about a mile away.”

 

“So, they’re using the subway system to get around town?”

 

“Presumably, though it is not clear where they go from there.  It leads to a small residential area on the outskirts of the city, but none of the residents appeared to be involved with Mint Eye nor had they seen anything suspicious happening recently.”

 

I tilted my head to the side in thought.  “Do you believe them?”

 

“Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and the residents seemed to be normal enough, though they could still be hiding something.  Plus, just because they haven’t seen anything, it doesn’t mean that nothing has happened.  I had planned on having Dovev and Lotus survey the area for a few days.”

 

“Hopefully something turns up…”

 

“Is that everything you wanted to know?”

 

I rolled my eyes, Vanderwood was straight to the point as usual.  “Yes, that’s all, just make sure you can come to the party.”

 

“Of course.  Goodbye.”

 

“Bye!” I said to the ended call tone.  He wasn’t much for hellos or goodbyes.  I tried Jumin’s phone again, to no avail.  The Choi’s however, had quickly replied to my messages.

 

Seven:  Saeran and I will come, even if I have to drag him there! 

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	22. Day Seventeen: The Chase

I felt myself start to sweat.  One of us must have been bugged or followed to the café, but I don’t recall anyone else being there besides ourselves and the cashier.  I slowly spun around, but the apartment was empty and ordinary.  I examined the box more thoroughly, but there didn’t seem to be a card or any other sort of message to indicate where it had come from.  I slowly slinked into the other rooms and nothing seemed out of place, except that the door to the balcony in my room was slightly ajar, letting in an icy breeze.  The door hadn’t been tampered with from what I could see, someone had opened it with a key.  I peeked out of the window to examine the balcony, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so I stepped outside.  I instinctively wrapped my arms around my torso and rubbed my newly goose-bumped arms.  Someone had recently watered my plants.  The floor was still wet where the water had formed into small puddles, so it hadn’t been there long enough to evaporate.  I looked above me, nothing was there.  I looked below me, having to lean almost completely over the rails, so I could look at the balcony below me.  A plant pot had been knocked over, throwing dirt all over the floor.  While the lower balcony was slightly off to the right, it would be possible to jump and climb up to my balcony if someone had the aptitude, but it would be fraught with danger.  Someone must have _really_ wanted to get inside my apartment.  A Mint Eye recruit perhaps?  It seemed both far-fetched and plausible at the same time.  It seemed unlikely that Mint Eye would have recruited someone who was conveniently good at free-running and parkour or could be trained to such a high level that we hadn’t encountered them before now.  Though, Mint Eye did have a decent amount of capital, from our estimates at least, and would be one of the only groups that wanted to target me or the RFA that would do something so life-threatening just to leave a box of cakes in my home.  I immediately tried Jumin’s phone, no answer.  Had something happened to him too?  I hadn’t heard from him all day, but I hadn’t considered the possibility of danger before now.  I called Vanderwood instead, he answered, but he didn’t sound happy to hear from me; at least based on the long sigh that greeted me.

 

“I got your message, I didn’t see much point in replying to it, I already said I would come.”

 

I grumbled.  “It’s not about the party!  Someone has been in my apartment and I’m not sure if one of our phones have been compromised.”

 

“So, you call me on the possibly bugged phone?  Really?”  I could hear a keyboard tapping in the background.  I knew he was already working to solve my problem, likely enacting one of the escape or rescue protocols he already had in place for the team.

 

“What else was I supposed to do?  They don’t appear to still be here, but who knows?”

 

He sighed again, mumbling something under his breath.  “Leave your phone in the apartment, use the pager.  Come to the Warehouse.  Do _not_ use your car.”  The call abruptly ended. 

 

I resisted the urge to throw my phone across the room and started to form a travel plan.  I reluctantly messaged Saeyoung to tell him to keep Hae at the bunker.  He replied stating she would not be happy about that.  Something must have happened between them.  I wanted to call him and find out, but that could make it easier for the intruder to find the bunker, if they didn’t already know where it was.  Although, if they did know where it was, they would find it difficult to get inside.  It was probably the safest place for Hae to be, even if she doesn’t appreciate it.  I would have to explain what was going on soon.  It was becoming too complicated and Hae kept being entangled in it.  I had told her that the people who had chased us on the street were simply our father’s people, but I knew she was not convinced, only accepting my explanation so it wouldn’t cause an argument.   

It would take a long time to walk to the warehouse.  I could use the subway to cut out most of the journey time, but it seemed careless to use Mint Eye’s main method of travel if I wanted to avoid them.  They had left the apartment in this way for a particular purpose.  Did they want me to lead them somewhere?  Walking without a pre-planned route would make it easier for them to follow me.  It needed to be complicated and confusing, something they wouldn’t have thought of when they considered where I might go from the apartment.  If they had only wanted to capture me, they would have done so.  They could have just waited in the apartment for me.  I started to strip off my clothes, including my shoes and wig, checking for any tracking devices.  I then quickly moved on to a small selection of clothes in my closet.  I didn’t find anything, so I redressed in a different outfit.  I reached into the back of my closet, pulled out my infiltration bag from behind the built-in drawers and eventually found the response pager buried at the bottom.  I only used the pager on missions where I wouldn’t be able to use my phone as it tended to be more reliable in remote areas.  Vanderwood had also managed to set up his own private ‘service’ on the network with Jumin’s assistance, so all messages went directly to him.  In hindsight, I should have probably been carrying it around with me at all times.  As I walked back into the kitchen, I placed my phone down on top of the cake box.  I then left the apartment and locked the door behind me.  It seemed pointless since someone had already broken in, but it would at least keep my neighbours away from the incident.  I had a vague memory of where I needed to go to get to the warehouse, but if I really got lost, I would have to risk using a taxi to take me most of the way.  Hopefully they wouldn’t be able to follow me there, though if they did, Vanderwood would never let me in anyway. 

 

I took the lift down to the basement level.  This was only intended for the buildings management and maintenance, but I had access to it through Jumin.  This should be a safer, more discreet way to exit the building.  I slinked through the dim, empty corridors until I reached the back entrance.  The side rooms were full of cleaning supplies and other maintenance utensils such as a hedge trimmer for the small bushes at the front of the building.  One of the rooms seemed to be for laundry, but it looked more like a small drycleaner with an array of suits hung up in plastic packages.  I quickly typed in the code and pushed the heavy door open.  I squinted in the sunlight and headed up the stairs to the small staff carpark behind the building.  There was a pathway at the edge of the carpark lined with trees which lead back towards the main road or further along the stretch of apartments on the street.  I half-jogged into the cover of the trees.  Rather than obey the ‘rules of the pathway’, I continued through the trees on the opposite side which led to other streets of apartments buildings.  I would still have to openly cross the roads on this route, but the smaller residential streets were far more discrete than the western main road.  The western road was more direct, but it often got clogged up with heavy traffic, meaning I would spend too much time standing around at the traffic lights, which would allow Mint Eye to easily catch up to me.  The main disadvantage of my current route was that I wouldn’t be able to disappear into the crowd until I reached the northern main street and could cross over the road on the overpass.  My eyes darted around the environment as I continued my brisk pace, analysing any passer-by for suspicious behaviour, my muscles tensing whenever they passed behind me.  Many of them looked at me strangely as I squeezed between the trees and hopped over bushes to reach the next pathway. 

 

After running into one too many disgruntled business men, I eventually made it to the overpass where it was unusually quiet, even for the late afternoon.  With no other available option, I walked up the steps and made my way over the bridge.  I passed a few small groups of people along the way, couples and college students, who seemed to be anxious and in a hurry.  I looked over the far edge of the overpass to see a group of a few thousand or so standing around in the business plaza.  They were setting up a sound system and seemed to be arranging and decorating placards.  A protest of some sort?  I increased my pace in the hopes of avoiding the conflict, but at least the protest will make it easier for me to lose anyone who may be following me.  The crowd began chanting as I made it down the last few steps while other smaller groups of people seemed to be watching the protest from afar.  A woman at the bottom of the stairs immediately gave me a flyer for the event which I stuffed into my pocket.  Protests were not an unusual sight to see in Seoul in recent years, there was much unrest throughout Korea, which contributed to the rising popularity of cult-related behaviour.  I headed straight for the crowd and slowly meandered my way through the gathering.  Another woman began shouting out demands on a megaphone while the others cheered in agreement, throwing hats with embroidered slogans and other accessories in the air.  I quickly swept up an abandoned hat from the ground, put it on and unfurled the poster I had been given earlier.  I had made it towards the middle of the section I was in, so I pretended to join in the protest, regardless of what it was for, waving the poster around like a flag whilst cheering with the others.  This would allow me to check out my surroundings before moving on.  It was hard to see past the bouncing people, flailing their arms in the air, but I could see the small groups on the edges of plaza.  Some were merely interested in the cause, some were ambivalent to the festivities, while others looked at the group in disgust, clearing disagreeing with whatever the people here stood for.  There were a few people who I would count as suspicious, those that were blankly staring into the crowd, as though waiting for something, or those that appeared to be looking at individuals in the crowd rather than the crowd overall.  Paranoia had started to set in.  Where they looking for me?  Or was it simply coincidence?  I suppose it was normal to be intrigued in the types of people that attended these events if you didn’t care that much yourself.  I would be too if I wasn’t so busy looking for other people; fundraising for the RFA often attracted those willing to protest for worthy causes. 

 

I felt the pager vibrate, I had received a message from Vanderwood.  ‘ _I see you on CCTV.  They’re close.’_ So, they were here, at least according to Vanderwood.  Had he watched me walking here and seen them following me, or did he just recognise some of the agents described and drawn by Saeran?  Either way, I knew I needed to keep moving, if Vanderwood could see me, Mint Eye agents may be watching me too, and I didn’t want to endanger the protesters.  I quickly used the ‘understood’ auto-reply before slowly drifting through the crowd to reach the edge while continuing to ‘participate’ in the protest.  When I reached the edge, I began to casually walk out of the opposite end of the business plaza which led towards the city.  I didn’t have anything with me to check if anyone was following me, so hopefully Vanderwood could message me as I progressed further ahead.  The walkway was direct; a long, straight route to the city, mostly built above the road to completely avoid traffic.  I was quickly lost in the streams of commuters on the walkway, drifting between different groups while avoiding edging too close into the cycle lane.  I slid the hat from my head and tucked it into the large pocket of my coat while I continued my calf-burning pace.  The pager buzzed again.  _‘Saeran en route.  Watch for motorbike.’_   I rolled my eyes, great, that’s all I need, the most recognisable person to Mint Eye coming to my rescue.  I didn’t reply.  There wasn’t an auto-reply message close enough to ‘have you lost your fucking mind?’.  I assumed he would be waiting for me next to the road at the end of the walkway.  The most recognisable person, hanging out next to a main road where Mint Eye agents are also likely waiting for me.  It’s a good thing I had my gun stuffed in my regular hidden holster, it seemed likely that I would need it.  After a few minutes, the pager began to buzz continuously, with a stream of short commands.  ‘Move faster.’  ‘They’re close behind you.’ ‘MOVE.’  ‘Back-up coming.’  ‘Start running.’  I increased my pace to a steady jog, but the last message troubled me, so I kept my hand hovering just above my gun.  ‘Saeran is surrounded.’  Then I heard gunfire up ahead. 

 

The people erupted into panic, running towards me to escape, while I tried to run towards the chaos like a maniac.  The agents were likely trying to close in on me before I reached Saeran and hopefully the others, so I sprinted as fast as I could while trying to avoid bumping into people.  The walkway opened up to a large paved area next to an eight-lane road.  The gunfire continued, but I couldn’t focus on anything in the panic besides the distant sound of sirens; we had little time.  I ducked down next to a half-wall full of blooming flowers, gun in my hand, and surveyed the scene.  I looked over my shoulder at the walkway, three people ran onto the scene.  They must have been the agents who were following me.  They didn’t notice me, instead focusing in on the gunfire off to the side.  They ran over to join the fight.  I watched them return fire at who I assume is Saeran and the others, but I couldn’t see them as a large van that had been abandoned in the road was blocking my view.  I couldn’t see the motorbike either.  I checked the pager, but I didn’t have anymore messages.  Is Vanderwood here himself?  I replied saying ‘I have arrived’ to let him know I was here, if he was even able to check his messages.  I moved away from the wall in a crouch, slowly creeping my way to the fence at the edge of the pavement.  I kept my eye on the enemy, if they didn’t notice me now, they would soon.  I hopped over the fence and sprinted towards the cover of the van.  The cult member closet to my side pointed me out to the rest of the group and the ‘leader’ immediately called for them to stop shooting at the ‘asset’.  I stood in the road to test my limits and the group merely stared at me, unable to move from their position without being shot at themselves.  Vanderwood burst out from behind the van and one of the cultists fired a shot next to me to try and hit Vanderwood, angering their leader immensely.  He wrapped his arm around my waist, crouching slightly to hide behind me, while the leader reprimanded them for their carelessness.  They looked confused, their hands shaking on the grip of their guns.  We couldn’t stay here for long, they seemed to only have a limited amount of control for such a ‘sensitive’ operation.

 

“It’s nice to see you.”  Vanderwood sneered sarcastically in my ear.

 

I huffed.  “I didn’t ask you to use me as a human shield.”

 

“Believe it or not, there weren’t many options.”

 

“And how exactly is this going to help?”

 

“We’re… stalling.”

 

“Seriously?!”  I complained, trying to struggle out of his grasp to strangle him.

 

He sighed, tightening his hold on me, nearly lifting me off my feet.  “Concentrate.  I don’t think we have long.”  That much was true.  The enemy were becoming more antsy by the moment trying to figure out how to proceed with this ‘plan’ and the sounds of sirens became louder by the minute.  Similarly to Vanderwood’s current idea, Mint Eye’s plan seemed very hastily put together.  Something must have gone wrong somewhere; Mint Eye were not usually this disorganised and senseless.

 

“Where are we going?” I asked.

 

“Both directions are poor choices.  Back towards the pavement is too open to attack, even if they don’t want to shoot you, they could still come after us and there aren’t many places to go.  Back towards the group… we’re trapped down a small dead-end alley.  I barely made it over here in the first place.  We could _maybe_ make it to the cars down the road, but I can foresee causalities.”

 

“Well you’re eventually going to run out of bullets anyway.”  I mumbled, slowly stepping back towards the van, Vanderwood followed my lead.  “Will they know to run?” Worry laced my voice; I didn’t want anyone on the team to get hurt just to save me, most of them didn’t even take part in field missions.

 

“Possibly…”  I rolled my eyes, grumbling obscenities at him under my breath while Vanderwood laughed softly against my neck, tickling me.  “If they know what’s good for them.”

 

I pulled out my gun and aimed it at the cultists.  Vanderwood sprang back from me, grabbed my other arm and began to pull me into a run.  I ran sideways for a moment, firing wildly to hopefully allow the others the opportunity to flee before I ran alongside Vanderwood.  He was much faster than me, but he wouldn’t let go of my arm, forcing me to keep up the pace.  It was probably for the best.  I could hear gunfire behind us, but it wasn’t directed at Vanderwood and I, so they were likely shooting at the rest of our group.  I was still too close to Vanderwood for them to risk shooting at him with a pistol.  He abruptly pulled me towards the left down a side street and I saw a row of hastily parked cars, some of which blocked the road.  We clambered into the one furthest away so that the others had a better chance of getting away unscathed; Vanderwood took the wheel.  It was protocol to leave the keys in the glove compartment while on ‘short’ missions like these to ensure a quick getaway.  Most people usually run as far away from the location of these missions as possible for Vanderwood to care too much about theft.  We quickly swerved out of the parking space and continued down the road, away from the pursuit.  I saw the others rushing into the vehicles behind us and relief rushed through me.

 

Vanderwood’s eyes briefly met mine in the wing mirror before he swung the car to turn left at the end of the road.  “They know what they are doing MC, it’s not necessary to worry about them.”

 

I glared at him.  “Do you care about anyone?”

 

He returned my glare.  “I came to get you, didn’t I?”

 

“Only because Jumin would flip his shit if you didn’t.”

 

Leather squeaked as he gripped the steering wheel tighter.  “And where is he now?  You are such an-” He sighed, swallowing his anger before continuing.  “You’re so ungrateful.”  I stared out of the window, feeling a little guilty as Vanderwood continued his reckless driving style.  I found it hard to believe that Vanderwood cared about me.  We got along well, but we didn’t really talk about anything other than work.  He didn’t seem to have many personal connections, not even with the team; they had mentioned before that he was rather apathetic when they interacted with him. 

 

I sighed, turning to face him.  “I’m not trying to be ungrateful.  I just… why are you all here?  Why endanger them all just for me?”

 

“Must we talk about this now?”

 

“Vanderwood-”

 

“Stark.”  He pressed, his voice cold.  I mentally slapped myself for messing up his name again.  Vanderwood had changed name to Francis Stark for a reason; to remove any association to whatever organisation he previously worked for.  He and Saeyoung still would not reveal who exactly they were, seeing as they had formed some sort of truce, however rocky that may be.  I  _really_ couldn't keep messing this up anymore, so I made a mental note to keep correcting myself if I forget again, even in my own thoughts.

 

In reality, I rubbed my face with my hands in frustration before meeting his eyes.  “Please?”

 

He stared at me a few seconds, then he turned his eyes back to the road.  I thought he was going to ignore me, so I was surprised when he began to explain the situation.  “When we looked at what routes you could take, we saw that they were gathering in small groups all over the city, so there was no way for you to avoid running into them.  Choi rushed off to your predicted trajectory like a moron, meaning I had to follow him, because he’s unpredictable and I don’t trust him to keep you safe. 

 

“You were doing well; but when they believed they had found you during the protest, the other groups started to cause trouble, lighting fires, starting random shoot-outs with police, etcetera.”  My eyes widened, but Va... Stark was focused on the road, so he continued.  “I didn’t order the team to assist me.  They wanted to come and help you, partly because you do a lot of the heavy lifting and they feel that they owe you for that.”

 

I closed my eyes for a moment.  “… I’m sorry.  I’ll have to thank them for coming.”

 

“If you like.  We are a team after all.”

 

I briefly smiled, thinking that I should probably accept the teams offer to go out sometime, when I rounded back to the more awkward topic of conversation.  “You don’t trust Saeran?”

 

“Of course not.  I read your report.  Pretending to be one of them was a good idea in theory, but he never should have taken you with him, there was no point in that whatsoever.  He could have let you go, the idiot he was with willingly told him where Rika was anyway, so we could have simply regrouped, and don’t even get me started on Ujin.”  He seethed.  This felt like a rant that he had built up for a while.  Why didn’t he say anything before?  As far as I knew, he had been sending Saeran work to do and had seemingly inducted him into the team, yet he didn’t trust him?

 

“But Ujin betrayed us?”

 

“Yes, sure, but he didn’t need to blow his brains out!  We could have figured out who he was feeding information to, what he had said, how much he said.”  This much was true, killing Ujin had left an irreparable hole in the team.  Stark hadn’t been able to trust anyone until he re-vetted them, but he was still wary of how much information he provided on assignments now.

 

“If you don’t trust him, why send him work to do?”

 

“The assignments I send him are fake.  I’m testing him.”

 

“Any conclusions?”  I asked coolly.  I wasn’t sure what to think about this reveal.

 

“Nothing so far from assignments, but I still don’t trust him, or his infatuation with you.  You wouldn’t believe the death glare I received when I rushed out to help you.”

 

I resisted the urge to groan.  “Why didn’t you say anything?  And how is his relationship with me relevant?”

 

He scoffed.  “How isn’t it relevant?  They want you, he wants you to _trust_ him.  He _was_ one of _them._   And I did ‘say something’,” He enunciated with air quotes. “To Jumin.  I didn’t want him anywhere near our organisation, but he insisted.”

 

“And Jumin’s word is final…”  I mumbled, biting my lip.  “Still, you could have said something to _me_.”

 

He shrugged.  “I thought you had considered it yourself.  I didn’t have any evidence, besides his actions, which you were already aware of.  I thought you and Jumin had seen something I had missed.”  So, in his eyes, it was essentially my own fault?  I suppose that was true.  I hadn’t asked for anyone’s opinion on Saeran, they just accepted him for my and Saeyoung’s wellbeing.  Though I suppose the others didn’t even interact with Saeran.  Rika’s party would be the first time they had spent any time with him.  Did he even interact with the others at the warehouse, or did he just lurk around like a ghost?

 

I frowned at him.  “I don’t really know what to do.”

 

“If you are, for some reason, fishing for _my_ advice, then stay away from him.  At least until we have dealt with the Mint Eye situation.  That’s his most suspicious connection.”

 

“I can’t just ignore him…”

 

He gave me an indignant look.  “Perhaps you should ask yourself why you are attached to him in the first place; I hope you’ll talk yourself out of it.”

 

That was the ultimate question here.  Why did I even like Saeran?  Had he just worn me down into submission?  At his worst, he was possessive, fiendish and volatile.  At his best, he was quiet, thoughtful and playful.  I felt like I had just progressed to a good standing with Saeran, but should I have?  While Jumin had been angry at Saeran’s actions, he seemed to be… fine with him at least, but was that just for my benefit?  Saeran kept saying he wanted to get to know me, but I didn’t know much about him either.  He forced himself into my life and I had just decided to let him in for some reason, despite all the conflict it seemed to bring with it and all the terrible interactions I kept having with him.  I wondered how things would be if I had ignored him from the start. 

 

I abruptly looked up when I felt the car lurch to a stop in an oddly empty carpark.  I scanned the surrounding area to see we were in some sort of run-down or abandoned commercial area, probably outside of the city.  We were far away from Mint Eye at least.  I raised my eyebrow at Stark.  His eyes flicked to meet mine.

 

“Regrouping.”  He stated plainly.

 

I furrowed my brow.  “Where are we?”

 

“We’re not far from the warehouse.  We should reassess before heading inside in case we have… unwanted cargo.”

 

I nodded, it was a good idea.  “Can I use your phone?  I want to check on my sister; make sure Saeyoung doesn’t take her to my apartment.”

 

He ran his fingers through his hair with a grumble.  “Can you wait until we’re inside?  I do not want to miss any important calls.”  I could feel the stress radiating from him.  I didn’t want to be selfish, but the feeling of dread made me feel queasy.  It had been clear that Saeyoung and Hae’s conversation hadn’t ended well, and Saeyoung was clearly useless at controlling Hae.  There was only so many times he could say ‘ _because MC said so’_ before she snapped and left on her own.  Regardless, this was a sensitive operation that was clearly bothering Stark and I didn’t want to be the reason it all went wrong.

 

“Alright…”

 

“We’ll be inside soon.”  Stark replied blankly, no doubt _trying_ to reassure me in his own way.  We waited in amicable silence, watching the sun slowing setting on the horizon.  It had been a long day.  From what I could tell, Mint Eye’s forces had been so limited because their other operatives were causing trouble to distract from the main event; capturing me.  It seems they had been waiting for me in every direction I could have left my apartment.  Why didn’t they just ambush me in my apartment if they knew where I was and had already broken into it?  Plus, they left me a clue that they had been there, which would obviously cause me to change my approach entirely.  I was missing something here.

 

“Why did they help me?”  I wondered aloud.

 

“Help you?”

 

“If they wanted to ambush me, why did they leave a warning?”

 

“A warning?”

 

“The box of cake!” I stressed, before continuing.  They must have overheard about the party, or at least about the cakes…”  I mumbled, before looking up at him.  He looked at me in complete confusion, like I had gone mad, when I remembered that I hadn’t told him all the details, so I quickly explained the previous events.  Afterwards, he wore a troubled expression.

 

Stark hummed to himself before beginning to speak.  “I see… perhaps we should delay the party?  I cannot decide if someone tried to help you escape today with the warning, or if it was a warning about the party itself.”

 

“It would help if he could contact Jumin.”  Who today, seemed to be the new V.

 

“No one knows where he is, but there was no indication that he had been… taken or _dispatched._ ”

 

I shook my head in disgust.  “Don’t say things like that.”

 

“I am merely being practical.”  He replied, raising his hand as a sign of defence.  I pursed my lip and he laughed softly in response when the first car pulled in.  Amun and Lotus exited the car.  I was not too surprised, Amun was an experienced field agent and Lotus was his trainee after what happened to Ujin.  He knew how to escape, and he probably pushed Lotus to her limits, judging by her sallow visage.  My face at least, finally cracked into a wide smile.  I hopped off the car bonnet and jogged over to hug Lotus.  She seemed startled at first but was happy to melt into my arms.

 

“I’m so glad you two are okay!”  I felt her laughing against my shoulder.

 

“So am I…”  She smiled, breathless from laughter.

 

“I hope the others were as lucky.”  A deeper voice murmured.  I looked up at Amun, he had a weak smile on his face and moved to join Stark at the car.  Lotus and I settled down on their car, waiting again, but not for long.  A further two cars pulled into the car park, one looking like it had received a spray of bullets on one side.  Zeph and Raz peeled out from the undamaged car, pure relief painted   their faces; relived to be alive I imagine.  Ciar jumped out of the other car, rushing to the side that Dovev was on; the damaged side.  My heart skipped a beat when he helped the injured Dovev out of the car and began supporting his weight.  He had been shot in the leg.  Ciar had attempted to patch him up with a scrap of stripy fabric, but he was not an expert in first aid.  Stark sprang up to support Dovev’s other shoulder to help him walk over to our car, while Lotus was already reaching for the first aid kit in the car.  They laid him down on the bonnet and Lotus began cutting his trousers to mid-thigh.  The bullet had hit him a few inches above the knee.  I inspected it from afar as Lotus began applying disinfectant.

 

“We need to take him to the hospital.”  I announced, cutting through the tension. 

 

Dovev narrowed his eyes at me.  “I’d rather not.”

 

My mouth quirked into a smirk.  “So, you’d rather die old man?”

 

He laughed gruffly.  “I’m not that old.”

 

Lotus agreed with me, brushing off Dovev’s concerns.  “MC is right, the bullet is pretty deep.”  Dovev rolled his eyes in response, but I could tell that he also agreed with my assessment, reluctantly.  She turned to Stark.  “I can take him to the hospital, claim he got hit by a rogue bullet in the chaos?”

 

Stark nodded sharply.  “That should work in this instance, I imagine the hospital is busy with similar cases.”  We all moved to help Dovev into the back of the car after I tightly wrapped his wound back up.  Lotus quickly drove away, clearly worried about the man.  He’d had worse, but I was horrified that he had been hurt trying to protect me.  Stark put his hand on my shoulder to reassure me; it didn’t help that much.  Zeph, Raz and Amun wore weak smiles.  Ciar was expressionless.  We were still waiting for Saeran and Kimi, the youngest agent.  After seeing Dovev, they were clearly expecting the worst, but they would have known more about what happened to them than I did.

 

“Were they the last to leave?”  I asked.  Raz looked at me sheepishly, ashamed.

 

“Kimi… went down.  She might have been shot, I don’t know, we kept running.  Saeran went back for her.”

 

I froze, while Zeph whirled to face Raz.  “She went down!?  I didn’t even…”  He shook his head in disbelief.  Ciar’s eyes were wide.  Had Raz been the only one to see what happened to her?  Amun turned away from the group entirely, seeming to vibrate with anger.  He placed his palms against the car bonnet.  Stark’s eyes lingered at his back for a moment until the others began to speak again.

 

“Why didn’t you say something…?”  Zeph asked him, his voice barely a whisper.  The pair had left together, so Zeph felt understandably betrayed.  Raz’s face fell significantly, his eyes filled with tears, but he remained silent.  Fear.  I looked at Stark, his expression was cold.

 

“Can we contact them?”  I asked him.

 

“I’m not sure…”  Stark wondered, flicking through his phone. 

 

We had to consider that they may not have made it to the cars, especially if Kimi fell early in the chase.  Most of the other agents were experienced, coming from other agencies or coming across Stark’s discreet advertisements requesting qualified hackers.  Kimi was just an exceptional computer forensics graduate that had managed to pass Stark’s tests with flying colours.  She was not fit for field work based on athleticism or her disposition; she had never seen true conflict or experienced the pain of a gun-shot wound.  Not that anyone could eventually tolerate being shot, but the first time is always the most harrowing, thought I don’t exactly remember the incident myself…  I could scarcely believe that Saeran had gone to help her, he did not seem the type to tolerate ‘dead weight’, and if Kimi had been injured she certainly would be.  If she slowed them down, who knows what could have happened to them…  The look on Stark’s face suggested that he wasn’t having much luck.  We worked so hard to get away from there, no one would be thrilled at the prospect of returning.

 

“Should we go back?” I asked aloud.  I heard anxious murmurs around me.  Stark was lost in thought.  The reception was about as positive as a suspected it would be.

 

Stark frowned.  “That whole section is under police lock down.  I can’t intervene without Jumin’s authority and if we intervene without it we’ll be arrested for being a hindrance to their investigation.”

 

“If we get caught…”  I mumbled.  Stark levelled me with an indignant look.

 

“MC, I want to help them as much as you do, but we shouldn’t go on a suicide mission!”  Raz hissed.  Zeph and Ciar looked at him with distain.

 

Zeph stalked up to Raz.  “This is all your fault in the first place.”

 

“My fault?  We came here for her!”  He cried, pointing at me.

 

“Stop it.”  Stark ordered.  The two snapped their heads to stare at him.  Stark slid off the bonnet and walked towards them, slow and deliberate.  “What has happened is unfortunate.  Now, if you want to express your emotions in a healthy way, why don’t you help us find Kimi… and Saeran.  If you don’t want to come, at least be useful and run tech support at the warehouse.”

 

“I’ll run interference.”  Raz scowled, before marching off to one of the cars.  Zeph and Ciar stared at him as he left.

 

“Well, we need at least one person to be our eyes and ears on the ground.”  Stark said, trying to sound upbeat, like nothing was amiss with Raz’s behaviour.

 

“What’s the plan?”  Amun asked.  He had been distant since hearing the story, but now he had something to focus on, it was as though his spirit had returned.

 

“We should be able to enter the perimeter from the west side, opposite from the incident.  Hopefully they got further afield, it’ll be less of a pain to find them.”  Stark explained.  I probably looked dumfounded, I couldn’t believe we were really going back, that they wanted to go back. 

 

“You three, get in the car and follow me.  I know where we can park.  MC, you’re with me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm feeling a Saeran POV will be coming next.
> 
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	23. Day Seventeen: The Rescue

 

~Saeran~

 

We ran.  She was ahead already, already safe.  I didn’t need to worry; despite my grievances, I knew Stark would be able to get her back to the Warehouse without any problems.  Or at least that’s what I kept telling myself, so I wouldn’t explode like a fragmentation grenade.  I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, but my queasy stomach was swishing far away in the Han River.  I was near, but far away.  Simultaneously where I _needed_ to be, but not where I _wanted_ to be.  Mint Eye was focused on our small group for the most part and they hadn’t radioed in for support yet.  Had they already given up?  That didn’t seem likely, so why were they so hesitant?  I wasn’t privy to their plans or logical position anymore, which put me on edge.  It felt like they had already won somehow; they didn’t need to chase MC and Vanderwood, because they already knew where they were going, or they had another plan for later, so it didn’t matter if they found her now.  Perhaps they were content with believing they would have her eventually no matter what we did to stop them?

 

Lotus and Amun had already gone ahead, but I needed to wait for the others by the remaining cars.  I was much faster than them, but Vanderwood would kick my arse if I left on my own.  I was pretty sure he already hated me enough as it was.  I might be Saeyoung’s brother, but I was still ‘unknown’, and I doubt my refusal to call him anything but Vanderwood was appreciated.  You can’t kill the past no matter how hard you try, might as well accept it and live with it.  It always finds a way to haunt you again.  I jogged back to the corner and peered around.  They weren’t too far away, except for the two stragglers at the back.  The young one… Kimi, was not a runner, she was reluctantly being pulled along by Raz.  He looked terrified.  The assassins burst out from the side of the bus and began firing.  Vanderwood’s team flinched, swerving and zig-zagging to get out of the way.  I began shooting back at them to provide temporary cover.  Everyone scattered, but Kimi went down in the confusion, twirling to the ground next to the row of shops.  Raz briefly looked back at her before ducking down from the shots behind him.  She managed to pull herself into an alcove of one of the shops.  She was sat down clutching her shoulder; Blood.  She must have turned around, startled by the gunshots, to get shot from the front like that.  _Inexperienced._   The others ran past me and around the corner.  I glared at Raz, who stopped behind me looking antsy, peering out at the scene behind us.  I could tell he already felt ashamed for leaving her but was too afraid to go back now.

 

“Just go.  I’ll get her myself.”  I spat. 

 

He quickly nodded and ran over to the cars in a panic.  I sprinted towards the chaos, flinging myself behind a car for cover while Mint Eye was distracted.  Kimi wasn’t too far away now, but the assassins were crowded around the alcove she occupied.  I heard tires squealing; the others must have just left.  _Fucking Cowards._   One of the cars spun out into the road behind me and the assassins immediately whirled around to face the noise.  The leader ordered them to open fire, his voice screeching across the street as they ran towards the car ahead of them.  I used this opportunity to make my way over to Kimi.  The car was struggling to turn around with the abandoned cars in the way and was being peppered by bullets on one side.  I quickly weaved between the abandoned cars ahead of me, keeping an eye on their position.  It didn’t take long to reach Kimi and I immediately knelt beside to her.  She looked dazed but kept a firm hand on her wounded shoulder.  She had managed to partially stuff a scarf into her wound, but it wouldn’t be enough to keep her going for long.  The scarf was heavily bloodied, and her hands were caked.  I wasn’t sure how bad that was for her condition.  Whenever I was in a situation that involved blood, it was usually evidence of a positive outcome.  A sick reassurance that I would live because I had eliminated my enemies.  This was the opposite; in this instance I needed to see the blood as life, slowly slipping away like grains of sand in an hourglass.  The ‘Golden Hour’ was key here, even if I was indifferent towards her, even if I only helped her for my own selfish reasons.

 

“We need to move.”  I whispered hastily, pressing Kimi’s hand more firmly against the wound. 

 

She nodded weakly, looking pale, trying to fight off the feelings of shock.  However, she still seemed to be alert, so hopefully she didn’t have any internal bleeding; I wouldn’t be able to do much in that instance.  I briefly looked over my shoulder, the assassins must have gone around the corner to follow the car.  I helped Kimi to her feet and wrapped her arm around me to support her weight and help her to ‘walk’.  It was likely that they will begin to search the remaining car, that Kimi and I would have used, for any clues of the warehouse.  If they continue to stand guard, we would be unable to escape that way.  We could possibly wait them out or go around somehow and reassess the situation.  Although I didn’t think Kimi would be able to wait for that long.  Mint Eye is relentless; if they can avoid the police, a small group would probably hang around the area for as long as they possibly could. 

 

We staggered down the closest alleyway.  We needed to hide before they came back this way to find Kimi.  They knew she was one of us and I wouldn’t wish the pain they would inflict if they found her alive upon anyone.  Based on the sirens, the police would be here soon, but we couldn’t rely on them.  They would ask too many questions about us; however, they _could_ at least distract the assassins long enough for us to get away.  Kimi wasn’t doing too badly, considering she had been shot, but I could feel her whole body shaking against me, which made it difficult for her to walk alongside me.  Thankfully, the buildings on either side of the alleyway had side doors.  I placed Kimi down on the ground and started trying to open the doors.  They were both locked, but they didn’t have very sophisticated locking mechanisms, so I should be able to open one of them.

 

Kimi groaned, trying to stand up using the wall for support.  “I can open this one.  You try the other one.”  I stared at her for a few seconds, but she seemed determined, so I nodded.

 

“Do you need tools?”  I asked.

 

“Y-yes.  I didn’t bring mine.”  I gave her my back-up toolset and moved over to the other door.  Kimi rubbed her bloody hands on her jeans before she began picking away with my tools while leaning against the door.  While the lock wasn’t too complicated, it was still stiff and unyielding by nature.   I tried to work as efficiently as possible to get inside quickly; one false move and I could damage or bend my tools, so I needed to be careful.  Either establishment would have a basic first aid kit and it would have to do.  It was largely pointless to try to remove a bullet, especially when you aren’t a medical professional, as it could cause too much damage or make the wounded bleed out far quicker than you know how to control.  What I needed to do here was stop the bleeding and prevent infection.  The kit was unlikely to contain any long tweezers or other useful instruments for removal anyway.  I spun around when I heard a noise behind me.  Kimi had unlocked the door and stumbled inside, nearly falling over.  Her hand slid against the wall, leaving a brownish coloured mark on the wall in the entryway.  I quickly jogged over to her and steadied her, carefully closing the door behind us with my foot.  I dragged her over to the nearest room and sat her down in what looked like a break room.  As she started to shrug of her jacket, I hesitated with my hands reaching out towards her, but she stilled me with a glare.

 

“I can take off my own clothes.  Find the first aid kit.”  She said, her voice gruff, but faltering.

 

“You’d be better just leaving your shirt on at this point.”

 

“I don’t want to be covered in blood!”  She seethed, coming back to life somewhat with her rage.

 

I swallowed my irritation and whirled around to find the kit.  Arguing was a waste of time.  I opened and searched all the drawers before deciding it wasn’t in here and headed back out to the corridor.  The next room was a small bathroom.  The kit wasn’t in there either.  The door to the store was locked, but it was a thin wooden door, so it would break open eventually.  I shoulder barged it a few times, swapping to kicking it in when my shoulder started to ache.  Watching the door crack and the splinters fly was oddly satisfying.  The door flew open, slamming loudly against the wall.  I rolled my shoulders and walked into the store.  It was a clothes store, so I beelined for the check-out desk, knowing the rest of the store would be useless.  It looked like a simple boutique, mostly only selling a few variations of items in common sizes while carrying a few essential items such as tights, leggings, plain t-shirts, blouses and a few work-orientated skirts.  A first aid kit was stuffed at the bottom of the desk, alongside a set of keys, so I grabbed them along with some plain looking t-shirts before rushing back over to Kimi. 

 

She was still sat on one of the chairs.  She’d managed to peel off her jacket, blouse, and the scarf, so her torso was only covered by a thin lace bralette.  Thankfully, she hadn’t caused the wound to bleed out again by taking off her clothes.  I pushed the thought away and placed the supplies down on the arm of the chair next to her.  I turned away to rifle through the first aid kit.  It was as minimal as I had imagined it would be.  I quickly cleaned my hands with one of the wipes before fishing my lock picking equipment out of my pocket and wiping them down.  They would have to act as my makeshift tweezers if I needed them.  She gave me a hard look as I shoved the sleeve of her padded jacket into her mouth, but she didn’t protest.  I carefully opened the wound with my fingers just wide enough so that I could try see the bullet without causing further bleeding.  I heard crinkling; Kimi had started biting down on the jacket already.  I needed to hurry up before she started screaming in pain, drawing Mint Eye to our location.  They weren’t far away, and it wouldn’t take long for them to find us here, mere feet away from where Kimi had been huddled in the alcove.  Thankfully, it looked like one solid bullet with minimal to no shrapnel damage.  I had a look around her shoulder, armpit and back, but couldn’t see any further damage either.

 

“You’re very lucky.”  I mumbled. 

 

I pulled out one of the sterile gauze pads and pressed it against the wound with my palm to force the wound to clot.  Kimi quietly groaned from the pressure, she was starting to worry me.  Even though she quickly thought to plug her wound, she still looked weak and pale.  I wasn’t sure how much blood she had lost, but if I thought about it, it likely wasn’t too positive.  While the bleeding may have subsided from the scarf, I wanted to be sure before wrapping the wound up.  I didn’t want her to start bleeding all over the place while we were moving around.  Moving Kimi wasn’t ideal, and may even be dangerous for her health, but I didn’t have many other choices.  If the whole group had left, then only I could save us from the assassins and I didn’t like our odds.

 

“Will I be okay?”  She wheezed, looking into my eyes.  I could tell that she was seeking an honest response.  Why else would she look at me like that?

 

“So long as we get out of here, quickly and without an incident.”

 

She slowly nodded.  “Like if Mint Eye find us?”

 

“Essentially.  I know this isn’t ideal, but will you be able to walk?”

 

She hesitated.  “…I can try my best.”

 

I ground my teeth together and focused on applying pressure to the wound.  She knew herself that she was dead-weight, but I couldn’t let them find her.  Not only for her sanity, but for my own benefit.  She knew useful information; information that could destroy us quite easily, or just myself if they felt like seeking revenge for my betrayal.  If they found her, she was better off dead.  It didn’t matter if they took me.  I wasn’t afraid to die and I knew how to force their hand if they tried to bleed me for information.  After a few moments I heard a commotion from the front of the building.  There was shouting and rustling.  Kimi’s eyes immediately snapped to mine.  I placed a finger against my lips to warn her to keep quiet. 

 

I leaned forward to whisper in her ear.  “Keep pressure on the wound.  I’ll take a look.”

 

Her eyes narrowed, but she nodded in resignation.  If she struggled to walk a few feet, she must know she wasn’t able to sneak around a building.  I moved my hand from her shoulder and she quickly replaced it with her own.  I crept out into the hallway.  We had closed the door behind us, but we didn’t have a key, so we couldn’t lock Mint Eye out if they came this way, which was likely.  I picked up a wooden chair from the break room, ignoring Kimi’s bemused expression, and placed the chair so it would sit under the handle to stop it from moving.  I slowly moved the handle to check, and it did get stuck, so _maybe_ that would work.  I moved to the front of the store and kept low.  I could see from the doorway that the group of assassins were running around or briskly walking back and forth along the street.  Their heads whipped around incessantly, eyes darting to examine every nook and cranny. 

 

They were no doubt searching for Kimi.  They saw she was wounded and probably assumed she wouldn’t get too far on her own without leaving a trace.  Since she was leant against me, she didn’t leave any blood splatters on the ground or leave visible bloody handprints on walls.  She had even managed to largely avoid it when she helped me to unlock the door to this building.  We needed to get away from here, but I wasn’t familiar enough with the area to know the best route.  After spending so much time isolated in one location, I didn’t enjoy being surrounded by towering buildings and masses of people at every turn.  The Bunker was a welcome reprieve, quiet and lonely, even if it was unfortunately also home to my idiot Brother.  I shuffled back to the break room.  Kimi had started to open some gauze dressing.  I rushed over to her and quickly explained the situation.  While she processed my words, I took the dressing away from her, applied another adhesive pad and started to wrap her wound with the gauze.  I pocketed the other two pads in case the wound started to bleed when we started moving.

 

“Do you know a good way to get out of here?”  I asked quietly.

 

She blinked before looking back at me.  “There’s only two doors to this building, right?  Even if we got outside, there’s no way we can avoid them if they’re walking around the front entrance.”

 

I rubbed my face while sighing.  “If they were distracted, would you be able to get away from here?  On foot or by car?”

 

Her eyes searched mine in confusion.  “…Are you going to do something stupid?”

 

“Just answer the question.”

 

“If they weren’t around… I could probably walk to the car, or back towards the city on my own from here.”  She swallowed, her hand ghosting over her shoulder.  I handed Kimi one of the plain black tops from the chair nearest to me.  She stared at it for a moment.  “I don’t think I can put that on…  I’ll just zip up my jacket.”

 

“Alright.  Do you have your phone or pager?”

 

“I have my pager, but Stark told us not to bring our phones.”  Kimi pulled the pager out of a small inside pocket in her jacket.  It looked a little scuffed on the edges, but it should work fine.  I had my own phone with me, stuffed into an inside pocket of my trousers, but I needed it with me if I was pursuing this crazy plan of mine.  At this point, she needed to just get out of here, I was fine with being a distraction before making my way out of here alone.  My phone would be useful if things went wrong, but Kimi’s pager would allow for an immediate response by Vanderwood.  Kimi would bleed out before the others were able to find her by tracking my phone.  She tapped on the pager a few times and the screen lit up.  She began flicking through the available responses and settled on ‘I am here’, as the most applicable one.  While we waited for a response, we heard movement from the alleyway.  Kimi stiffened, beginning to shrug on her jacket and I immediately jumped to my feet.

 

“Looks like I might be doing something stupid.”  I mumbled, pulling out my gun from my back pocket.  I held out my hand to Kimi.  “We’ve got to go.”  She took my hand and I pulled her to her feet.  She was still wobbly, but she could walk around alright.  She kept her hand on my shoulder just in case she needed the support. 

 

We crouched next to the door at the entrance when he began to hear someone jiggling the handle on the backdoor.  I slid forward to quietly unlock the front door.  A few assassins remained roaming the street ahead of us, so we needed to wait for a good time to leave.  The leader was talking furiously on his phone at the entrance to the alleyway.  They started banging on the door and I could hear the chair rattling from the abuse.  We looked back at the hallway and I motioned for Kimi to stay still.  We needed to time this perfectly.  The door burst open, the chair clattered against the wall, sending a loud reverberation through the building.  There was a pause, before the assassins began shouting to their leader.  The assassins outside the front entrance began to run to the alleyway and the leader looked on impatiently.  I quickly grabbed onto Kimi’s hand and we burst out of the front door, making sure we didn’t make too much noise.  I pulled her down the street without looking back.  After a few moments, I heard shouting behind us and the assassins began shooting at us again.  We were close to rounding the bend, so I pushed Kimi into another alcove and slid in next to her.

 

“You’ve got to keep going.”  I ordered while switching the safety off on my gun.

 

“Saeran…” She whispered while clutching her shoulder.  “You should go and leave me here.  I’m too slow.”

 

Well, she had more courage than Raz at least.  I pulled the pads out of my pocket and forced them into her free hand.  “Which is why you need to go now while I distract them.  We don’t have time to argue about this.”  She opened her mouth to protest again, so I rolled my eyes and pushed her out of the alcove towards the street.  I came out beside her and began to shoot at Mint Eye while running across the road.  Rather than return fire, they recoiled, diving back for cover, while Kimi kept running.  As I reached the other side of the street and ducked down behind a car, Kimi had gone around the bend.  Mint Eye took the opportunity to regroup, taking aim at the car I was using for cover, waiting for me to move.  They seemed to be discussing something.  The leader began to move towards me with two other members, weaving through the abandoned cars.  I fired off a warning shot at the car ahead of them and they stilled.

 

“It doesn’t have to be like this, _Unknown._ You’re always welcome at home.”  The leader proclaimed.  I had to stifle a snarl.  Why would they think I’d just go back there?  I know their lies; the Mint Eye of today is built on deceit.  I wish I’d had the time to question Ujin before I killed him.  Jae-Won, Eutteum and Chae-Rin had been useless, they didn’t know anything about what had happened.  Byeong-Cheol had spun his own version of the story and that was that.  Rika was captured and tortured by the RFA, tainting the sanctity of her spirit.  I had been sent deep undercover on my own secret mission to infiltrate the RFA using my brother to find out their plans and rescue the Saviour.  It was complete nonsense.  They had no idea who MC was, but the assassins with me today seemed to know exactly who she was.  Had they gotten desperate to capture her?

 

“We’re not here to hurt the girl, surely you know that?  All you have to do is bring her to us and she’s yours.”  I fired another shot in their direction out of anger.  I heard a scuffling noise and an angry sigh.  “You’re being quite disappointing; have you gone native?  No matter, I can make this more difficult if you wish.”  He motioned for a few others to join him.  I wanted to shoot at them, but I needed the ammo.

 

“They always said you were a ghost.  I never realised how accurate that was.  Do you not speak?  Are you too tainted for logical thought?”

 

I grimaced.  “I have nothing to say to you.”

 

“Oh, there we are.”  He mocked.  “Can you stop being so difficult now?  It’s becoming quite dull and we have little time.”

 

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

 

I heard an exaggerated sigh.  “Fine, fine.  Have it your way…”  The leader got to his feet and walked towards me.  I sprang to my feet and pointed the gun at his face.

 

“Fuck off.”  I growled.  I’ve never seen anyone so determined to die before. 

 

His mouth quirked up at one side to form a satisfied smirk, his eyes glinted in the light.  “FNC AQUARIUS.”  With that, my head began to pound, and my vision began to blur, darkening with every second. 

 

I staggered backwards, my legs feeling like lead weights.  Someone began to chuckle at me condescendingly.  I fired a shot in their direction, but the man laughed harder, mocking me.  My hand slowly lowered as I lost the energy to defend myself.  I fell backwards, my back bouncing against something hard, but I couldn’t feel the pain.  My pulse was racing in my ear, but I couldn’t feel that either.  There was something… familiar about this.  Something I had forgotten.

 

“Look what you’ve done now, you show-off.  He’s bleeding.”  A woman scoffed.

 

“It’s been too long…”  The man’s voice swirled in my mind.  “You’re much more resistant to it now.”

 

I could hear footsteps descending upon me and see their approaching silhouettes, but I couldn’t react.  I was frozen in place; my hand rigidly holding onto my gun.  For the first time, I felt terrified.

 

\---

~MC~

 

‘I am here.’  A message from Kimi, or was it Saeran?  I hoped they had stayed together.  We weren’t too far way from the original scene now, we had been walking for some time.  Stark had sent her a few more messages, but no-one had replied to them yet.  It was difficult to say much with the pager, since the one we used only had pre-assigned messages to choose.  We largely used it to confirm we had completed a task or needed back-up.  As a result, we were following the GPS signature we obtained based on the last message.  The police had set up on the opposite side of town according to the news.  They were struggling to keep the media away from the incident.  A lot of people had been injured in the crossfire but had managed to get away from the main scene, since Mint Eye was focused on us.  Certain groups considered it to be an act of terrorism, whereas others believed it could be blamed on the protests that were happening across the city today.  Hospitals were overrun with patients, so Dovev had managed to blend into the crowd seamlessly.  Stark then received a message.  It was the same as before, but the co-ordinates were different.  They must have moved locations.

 

“This is close by… Be careful, _they_ can’t be far behind.”  We nodded and followed behind him down a smaller street on our right. 

 

It was eerie.  We had seen a few people hiding in empty buildings or inside cars, etc., so we directed them towards the authorities for their safety.  This whole thing was a big mess, but as Stark so lovingly pointed out, we could use this as leverage for more funding and support.  I’m sure he’ll enjoy rubbing it into the authorities faces after they continued to doubt our cause.  Though I imagine Jumin dealt with this sort of thing more so than Stark did, so the response would be much more diplomatic.  As we grew closer to the location, Stark stopped and motioned for us to be quiet.  We could hear a strange sound.   Stark signalled for me to follow him.  We crept closer to a small passageway, which seemed to be used as a space for garbage bins.  I could hear a panting sound; someone was breathing heavily.  We readied our guns as the others kept watch and moved into the small space.  Hiding in-between the bins… was Kimi, vaguely pointing her gun up in our direction, her eyes wide.

 

“Stark…”  She whispered, tears forming in her eyes.  “You came back for us.”  I immediately moved to help her stand and Stark helped me to pull her to her feet.  She looked very weak.  Zeph and Ciar ran towards us when they heard her voice.  She looked happy to see them.

 

“Kimi! Are you okay?”  Zeph asked. 

 

She shook her head.  “I got shot.  Saeran helped… I’m not sure what happened to him.”  My body went cold.  I wanted to question her, but she was injured and had been for some time now.  She needed urgent attention.  It was unlikely at this point that she could help us anyway, her mind would be hazy and unfocused.  She might not even remember what happened.  I looked at Stark, wondering what to do.  Zeph took Kimi from my arm and helped her back to the street.

 

“What do we do?”  I asked, rubbing my arm nervously.

 

“I… am not sure.  There aren’t enough of us to find him or help rescue him.  They could be long gone by now and we need to get Kimi out of here quickly.”

 

“I know…” I whispered, looking at the floor.  Stark put a hand on my shoulder before moving away.  I knew we weren’t going to look for Saeran, even if we wanted to.  It was far too dangerous.  Stark hadn’t brought us back here to be involved in a situation that was worse than the one we had _just managed_ to escape previously.  We were lucky to get away with only minimal damages.  Kimi’s wounds had only become more serious due to how long she had been left untreated.  Plus, I knew Saeran would be less than grateful if we risked our lives to save him, or more specifically my life.  He didn’t want me to be anywhere near Mint Eye.  He was only involved because he thought he had to be if he wanted any sort of relationship with me at all.  I reluctantly walked away to join the others.  Zeph was admiring Saeran’s handiwork, as he had apparently treated Kimi’s wounds fairly well with only a simple first aid kit.  I was surprised he had been so considerate to risk his life for Kimi, he hadn’t shown much interest in other people unless it was important to me in some way.  Had he helped her just because he knew that’s what I would have done?

 

Stark turned to the group.  “Raz has informed me that the Police have pushed forward onto the main street due to hearing further gunfire about ten minutes ago.  We need to get out of here soon.  The best we can hope for is that they catch up to Mint Eye and find Saeran before anything happens.”

 

Ciar didn’t miss a beat to pile on the negativity.  “They’ve probably gone through the sewers again.”

 

“Raz has been tracking which exits they may have used, but they seem to have gone in a different direction from last time.  We haven’t heard a whisper since we discovered the last location.  Someone must have tipped them off.”

 

Amun looked thoughtful.  “Could we track the location of Saeran’s phone?”

 

Stark chewed his bottom lip.  “Even if we could, it wouldn’t be easy.  He personally encrypted it so that no-one could find him.”

 

“What about Saeyoung, could he help?”  I pressed.  Saeyoung was supposedly a better hacker than Saeran, so presumably he could figure out the flaws eventually.

 

“Perhaps, but I imagine that Saeyoung was the one he wanted to avoid the most.”

 

“You’d be surprised…”  I mused.  The twins had an awkward relationship to say the least, but it was clear that Saeran had an attachment to Saeyoung.  If anything, Saeran would know that Saeyoung would be the only one skilled enough to find him if he did go missing.  Which would either mean that Saeran had made it more difficult for Saeyoung to pry, or easier, somehow relying on the skills or personal knowledge of his brother to find him.  I hoped it was the latter.  There was much the twins shared that no-one else knew about, so hopefully Saeran relied on that knowledge to make it easier for Saeyoung to find him.  The one person that would be on his side no matter what Saeran had done.  A loyalty that was both a blessing and a curse for Saeyoung.

 

Stark shrugged.  “Either way, it will take time.  No use standing around here and getting arrested.  I can’t look at it from here anyway.”

 

I sighed.  “Fine, fine.  Let’s get out of here.”

 

Stark placed his hand on Zeph’s shoulder.  “Take Kimi straight to the hospital.  The rest of us will go back in my car.” 

 

Zeph carefully picked Kimi up in a princess carry and we made our way back to the cars.  He and Amun took turns carrying her, while Ciar sprinted ahead to get the car to pick up Kimi.  It would be faster than carrying her all the way.  Stark was engrossed in various phone calls and relying on Raz to inform him about what was going on at the scene.  Mint Eye had quickly scarpered away, leaving only corpses and injured civilians in their wake.  For the amount of noise and chaos they caused, the media was surprised that so few people had been hurt.  I slightly trailed behind the group, feeling sorry for myself.  I knew it was pathetic, but I was disappointed I hadn’t been able to do anything for Saeran.  He knew how to handle himself, but for all I knew, he was being tortured or he could have been killed; the mere thought of it made me feel empty.  I was jostled back to reality by Stark shaking my shoulder.  I realised I had stopped dead in the middle of the street.  The others had kept going, obviously worrying more about Kimi, the person that actually needed their help rather than my sanity.

 

He held out a phone to me.  “You need to call Saeyoung.   Get him working sooner rather than later.”

 

“Okay…” I replied blankly, taking the phone.  It already had all our numbers programmed in.  Stark jogged ahead slightly to catch up with the others, leaving me to my own devices.  He likely assumed I wanted some space anyway.  I called Saeyoung and he answered after a minute or so.

 

“Vanderwood?”

 

“He likes to be called Stark now, Saeyoung.”

 

“What?  MC? Are you alright?  Where are you?”

 

“I suppose I’m fine.  We’re on our way back to the Warehouse.” 

 

“What do you mean, you suppose?  Oh, and for your information, I’ve known Vanderwood for years!  He can’t expect me to just change my life overnight.”  He made an exaggerated huff.

 

I kept it brief and snappy, so we could get to the meat of the situation.  “Mint Eye came for me, again.  The others came to save me, and it didn’t end well.  Mint Eye has increased their powers substantially.  Dovev and Kimi have been shot, but are seemingly alright, and Saeran has gone missing.  We think he was taken.”

 

There was a brief pause, before Saeyoung turned on his serious setting.  “What do you need me to do?”

 

“Stark wants you to hack into Saeran’s phone to find his location, or at least to find out if he’s still alive.  We probably don’t have much time.”

 

“When was he taken?”

 

“Maybe thirty minutes ago?”

 

Saeyoung exhaled deeply and I heard a rustling sound in the background.  “I’ll get on it right away.  Anything else you need?”

 

“Is Hae alright?”

 

“She’s… Hae.”  He mumbled awkwardly.  “Please come back here as soon as you can.”

 

“I will.  And… I’m sorry, for everything.”

 

He spluttered in surprise.  “We can talk about it later, okay?”

 

I felt a small smile quirk my lips.  “Okay, I’ll see you later.  I’ll try to give you a heads up.”

 

“Okay, bye-bye.”  He crooned, snapping back to his fake happy-go-lucky persona, before hanging up.

 

I rolled my eyes and caught up with Stark to give him back his phone.

 

“He’s on board?”  He asked.

 

I scoffed.  “Of course he is.  He’d do anything for Saeran.” 

 

He nodded in response, immediately returning to his round of calls.  After another ten minutes or so, Ciar sped down to street towards us.  He turned the car around in the road ahead of us and waited for Amun to get to the car with Kimi.  Amun and Zeph carefully placed her in the back of the car and Ciar sped away from the scene towards the nearest hospital.  The rest of us plodded on, trying to increase our pace as the Police were slowly creeping towards our location.  We didn’t want to be mistaken for the culprits after all or have our time wasted by being brought in for questioning.  We needed to help Saeyoung find Saeran.  We needed to track Mint Eye’s movements, find their base and confirm their motivations.  We needed to figure out whether we had been hacked, tracked or infiltrated.  And, we needed to figure out what the hell was going on with Jumin.

 

When we got to the Warehouse we headed straight for the meeting room.  We all looked exhausted, expect for Stark, who looked like he had already formulated a plan.  It made me anxious, seeing as how Stark was basically going rogue at this point without Jumin to hold him back from his more… eccentric ideas.  Stark didn’t hold the same worries about the safety of the team that Jumin did.  Raz joined us in the room with a laptop, clearly still in the midst of working on something.  No one acknowledged his existence.  While everyone would stay professional, Raz’s actions would likely still leave a small wound in the team for a while.  He was less reliable, less trustworthy than he had been before.  Stark placed a glass of water on the table before beginning with his plan.

 

“We have a party to attend.”  He announced to the silent room.  The group stared at him in confusion, waiting for him to continue.  “While we cannot be sure of the intentions behind the warning MC received, we can be prepared for something to go wrong at the party.  We can set up our own trap for whoever comes to pay us a visit and capture them.”

 

Raz narrowed his eyes at Stark.  “You’re assuming it won’t be a huge mob?”

 

“We can prepare for a mob.  I dare them to try.”  He smirked, almost menacingly.

 

“Do we really want to antagonise them when we’re down three people?”  Zeph asked.

 

Amun inhaled sharply, barely containing his excitement.  “Oh, come one, it’ll be great, maybe we can finally play with the big guns.”

 

Raz gestured at Amun, as though that was reason enough to reject the plan.  “Come on Stark, if Amun thinks it’s a good idea, surely that means it’s the worst idea you’ve ever concocted.” 

 

Amun scoffed, looking offended.  “Everything works out fine for me, no matter what you straight-laced prissy-”

 

Amun was cut-off by a quick glare from Stark.  He held up his hands apologetically.  “As I was saying,” Stark stressed, stirring the conversation back to the matter at hand.  “We can plan for a raid.  Block all the exits, set up an alarm system; whatever we need.  It doesn’t matter.”

 

Zeph rolled his eyes.  “How can we have a party without the birthday girl?  Won’t that look suspicious?”

 

“For all we know, Jumin and Rika are still in attendance.  Even if Mint Eye waits for them to turn up, they’ll probably still come to capture MC.”

 

I barked out a bitter laugh.  “Oh look, the plan you always wanted, me as the prize goose.”

 

Stark winked.  “I prefer the term, damsel in distress.”

 

I groaned into my hands, relenting from banging my head against the table.  “Seriously?”

 

“If you’d like, you can go home, or hang out with Saeyoung.  I’m sure that will be fun.”  Stark threatened with a sweet smile.  I glared at him but held my tongue. 

 

He knew I couldn’t go home, so I would have to stay at someone else’s house, and where better to stay but with Saeyoung.  He wanted to see me anyway, so he might as well house me for the night or week.  I had become homeless yet again.  I hadn’t really thought about it until now.  Usually I could head off to Jumin’s, but I had no idea where he was, and I had to look out for Hae.  I didn’t want to drag Hae to Jumin’s to find Mint Eye operatives sat there waiting for me.

 

Zeph flashed me a look of what I assume was sympathy.  “So, what if something has happened to the two of them?”

 

“In that case, we have another problem entirely.  But as I said, they will still be interested in MC’s location.”  Stark replied.

 

“Then I suppose we have a lot to do before tomorrow afternoon…”  Raz sighed.

 

“Exactly, we best get to it.  Ciar and Lotus will return soon to help us once Kimi and Dovev have stabilised.  MC, you’re best staying out of sight for the time being.  You can stay here, or I’ll take you to the bunker when we leave to set up the party location.”  By the expression on his face, I could tell he was pleased with himself.  I don’t understand why he’s enjoying this so much, surely, he knows I’ll have to go back there at some point anyway?  All I’d be doing was delaying the inevitable if I stayed.

 

“I’ll take the bunker.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saeyoung and the party is next I suppose~
> 
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	24. Day Seventeen & Eighteen: It's been a long day

 

As I walked through the bunker’s security door, Hae instantly jumped up from her own personal blanket fortress to greet me.  No really, a blanket fortress of all things, carefully assembled against the sofa in the Livingroom.  She’d been watching some sort of teen drama on the T.V., which I’m sure Saeyoung _loved_.  Though I felt that Hae was only watching it at such a high volume to purposefully piss him off.  She pulled me into a tight hug, still wrapped up in one of the blankets and rested her head against my shoulder.

 

“Can we go home now?”  She asked, her voice muffled against my jacket.

 

I looked at her painfully.  “Unfortunately, no…”

 

She grumbled.  “I knew you’d say that.”

 

I screwed up my face, attempting to carefully construct my words.  “Our Father found us, so we can’t go back to the apartment.”

 

Hae pulled away, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. “Well, I doubt he actually found us…”

 

I smiled bitterly.  “True… I wouldn’t say that he _actually_ found us; that would require actual effort.”

 

“At least we’d have stayed hidden longer.”

 

“I don’t know, he has a lot of excess cash to throw around.”

 

“Kinda like the guy who bought you the overly lavish apartment in the first place.”  Hae smiled, looking directly into my eyes.

 

I sighed.  “Let’s not talk about that.”

 

She looked away in a huff, now resembling a bratty teenager.  It wasn’t like her at all, so I could tell she was genuinely upset.  “You mean like everything else?  Look I get it, your life is complicated and all, but I just feel a bit useless hanging around here without much to do.  I can’t even go to classes now.”

 

“I know.  I wish you could go and live your own life, but I don’t want you to end up back with our parents.  They’re a part of something I don’t really understand.  All I really know is that they’re involved with dangerous people, and they didn’t send just some ordinary people to look for us either.  They’re professionals…”

 

“Professionals… I’m guessing you don’t mean private investigators.”

 

“I’m sure you know the type I mean.”  Hae knew the strange individuals that hung around our family.

 

They are simply security, he would say.  We are an important family, he would drone.  There were reasons we wanted our freedom, except for my brother.  To this day, I still do not understand his loyalty to our parents.

 

“Too well.  There were more after you left.  Dad was obsessed with looking for you, but he never used any of those… goons.  I was excited about it but at the time I didn’t realise…”  She trailed off, spotting Saeyoung padding up the stairs.  We both turned to look at him and he faltered slightly.  I thought I’d be kind and break the tension.

 

“Made any progress?” 

 

He instantly perked up and began to walk towards us.  Hae slid surreptitiously to my side, now standing slightly behind me.  Did she want to shield herself from Saeyoung’s presence or did she merely wish to dismiss herself from the conversation?

 

“Well I managed to find the existence of his phone on the network quite easily.  Breaking into the phone itself isn’t… great.”  He looked weary, almost afraid, like how he had been the last time he had to deal with Saeran’s programming.

 

“But I thought the famous 707 was the superior hacker?”  I smirked.  Hae eyed the both of us, naturally looking bemused by this entire conversation.

 

He cleared his throat.  “Of course I am!  It’s not that… he just left a lot of baggage for me for sift through.”

 

“Baggage?”

 

He mussed his hair.  “Let’s just say his passwords are things that only the two of us would know, things I haven’t thought about in years.  I never realised how much he really did hold onto the past.” 

 

To me it made perfect sense.  Saeran was traumatised by the past, it was the main reason he struggled so much with his mental health and the treatment process.  Did Saeyoung think he would have let it all go just because he’d received therapy?  Though I suppose being foolhardy was Saeyoung’s main issue with life in general, he always seemed to have his head in the clouds until something came along to snap him out of it.  Though even then, he wasn’t always that logical.

 

I hummed to myself in consideration.  “You were the only one who could find him then.”

 

“Eh, you could figure it out with other methods eventually.  It just makes it easier if you already know the answers.”  Saeyoung replied with a strange look on his face. 

 

In all fairness he was surrounded on all sides by an awkward conversation.  It was clear that he had tried to hide himself from Hae to some extent at least, as she appeared to have no idea what we were talking about.  To have so much of yourself revealed during such a simple conversation… he no doubt felt disconcerted.  I would feel the same if someone began to relay all I had done over the years that I had been separated from my sister while all I could do was watch.

 

“So… how can I help exactly?  It seems like you know what you’re doing.”

 

“Bouncing around in my memories isn’t exactly an enjoyable experience.  I need someone to keep me focussed.  Plus, if I reach a point where my knowledge is no longer useful… you’re the only other person that knows anything about him.”

 

“I do?”  I asked, my eyebrows raising in confusion.  I wouldn’t say I knew much at all about Saeran.  In comparison, I’d say he knows a disturbing amount about me, likely more than even my closest friends.  Which reminded me, I should really heed Stark’s warnings about Saeran.  At some point anyway…

 

“Mina.”  Hae whispered before poking me in my side, startling me. 

 

My eyes flicked up to meet Saeyoung’s impatient stare.  He must have been waiting for me to pay attention to him again before speaking.  I hadn’t realised I had become so lost in my thoughts.  I smiled meekly as an apology.  He crossed his arms with a sigh and continued.

 

“It’s not so much about _knowing_ him.  More to do with having shared memories.  And before you start, yes, I know you haven’t known him for that long either, but I have no doubt that he values whatever memories you have shared more than others.”

 

I rolled my eyes at the implication.  “Sure, fine.  I’ll help you while I am here, but I doubt I’ll be that useful to you.”

 

Saeyoung smiled in a way I could only describe as creepy and murderous.  “I’m still going to the party.  If we do get an uninvited guest, I want to be there.”

 

Hae gaped at me and grabbed onto the sleeve of my jacket.  “There’s a party and I’m not invited?”

 

“It’s not that kind of party-”

 

She threw he arms into the air, her anger rising.  “Oh, I see, more secret spy shit that you won’t tell me about.  Typical.”

 

I turned towards her with a dismissive look on my face.  “I thought we were done with this-”

 

“You know, I thought about letting it go earlier, because you were honestly worried.  But hacking, secret mission parties, Saeyoung doing weird stuff with facial recognition tech… how long do you expect me to just be fine playing dumb?”

 

The two of us stared at her, neither of us knowing quite what to say.  I felt that the longer I had been back in Hae’s life, the more I began to disappoint her.  She had a very specific memory of me, a shell of a person, or perhaps now I was the shell of the person I used to be?  To her at least.  While I had been a very defiant person when living with our parents, I was now simply done with conflict.  I didn’t often try to deal with complicated problems anymore.  I brushed them away, waiting for them to become so dusty and old that no one even remembered what they were anymore.  I often complained that Saeyoung never dealt with his own problems, but I was in a similar boat.  I largely just projected my own frustrations onto him.  I had no problems dealing with simple, straight-forward issues, such as trying to figure out what was going on with Mint Eye.  But familial discourse?  No thank you. 

 

My family had become such a non-issue over the years that now I found it difficult to care too much about it.  I loved Hae and I didn’t want to disappoint her or cause her harm, but we’re so _very_ far away from each other.  If we weren’t related, we would have nothing to do with each other.  She would have grown tired of my distant personality, and I would have grown tired of her prying into my business.  While Hae did have a stake in this disaster due to my parents controlling her life, most of what I needed to explain had very little to do with myself.  I would be telling her secrets about _other people_ , like Stark and Jumin.  It was difficult to describe my involvement without talking about them and that didn’t feel fair to me.  She didn’t deserve to be informed about dangerous happenings just because she was my sister.  I would only tell her what she _needed_ to know.  At least, this might make her take her safety more seriously and stop complaining about the restrictions placed upon her.

 

I steeled my gaze on my younger sister.  She quickly snapped to attention.  “Have you noticed the increase in cult activity recently?”

 

Her serious expression quickly melted into a look of confusion.  “I’ve seen it on the news…”

 

“Well, people from one of those cults keep looking for us and they are _very dangerous_.  They have guns, influence, money and direction from powerful people.  We suspect that includes our parents and to a lesser extent, Young-sun.  That’s essentially _all_ I can tell you about it.”

 

She stared at me, almost glaring, before she began to nervously wring her hands.

 

“And what are we going to do about it?”

 

“ _We,_ ” I emphasised, gesturing at myself and Saeyoung, “Will deal with it.  There is nothing you can do to help, unless you know something about our family that you haven’t told me.”

 

Hae let the accusation brush past her.  “But… why do they want us?”

 

I rubbed my face with my hand, trying to will away the stress.  “We resemble or are at least related to someone that resembles a _goddess_ in some old book.  They wanted you to marry that old man in case they couldn’t find me or our apparent cousin, so then it would fall to you to… I don’t know, birth some sort of holy baby…?” I shook my head in disgust, “I don’t know the full details.”

 

Hae looked down at her feet, staring in silence.  I moved towards her and she recoiled, her face looked haunted.

 

“It makes sense now… all these years.  Everything they made me do and wanted me to do.  You saw it didn’t you?  You saw it happening to you and that’s why you left?  Why didn’t I see it too?”

 

I kept my voice calm and gentle, keeping an eye on Hae’s deteriorating mental state.  “I saw the control, not so much the reasoning.  I never suspected a cult.”

 

Hae sat down heavily on the arm of the sofa, causing it to groan under the sudden stress.  I saw Saeyoung squint in pain.  “Are all the other people I’ve met recently involved in it too?”  Hae asked.

 

I pursed my lip, my eyes flicking from Saeyoung to Hae.  “Yes and no.  Some have more involvement than others, but that is not my story to tell.  Some things are better left unknown.  Just know that our friends can be trusted and they’re here to help us.”

 

“Figures.”  She replied with a huff.

 

“Hae…”

 

I knew she wasn’t an unreasonable person, but this amount of secrecy would eventually offend anyone, especially if everything you knew was gained from small snippets of conversations you had sneakily overheard.  I knew how quickly someone could succumb to paranoia, even if they were sober.

 

“And how exactly do you fit into all this?” She placed her hands on her hips, “You’re not just some innocent bystander.”

 

“You could say I’m an undercover agent.” I replied calmly, wanting to diffuse the situation, “I find cults or infiltrate those that have been identified and try to take them down from the inside.”

 

“Why haven’t you done that this time?”

 

“Well for one thing,” I began with a slight glare, “they already know who I am, and they don’t fall for disguises.  They also seem to have a small army.  I’m not going to be able to do much if I’m riddled with bullets.  Though I suppose in this instance they want me alive, which is possibly even worse.”

 

Saeyoung decided to chime in.  “We haven’t had much luck in even finding their base location.  They seem to be everywhere.”

 

Hae frowned at Saeyoung before turning back to me. “So, when you say our parents found the apartment, you were really talking about this cult then?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Hae slid back off the arm and onto the sofa cushions.  “I should have listened to you earlier.”

 

“It’s not that much different from what I told you earlier…”

 

She wrapped her arms around a pillow.  “Well I wasn’t expecting you to tell me my parents have actually been selling me off like a broodmare.”

 

“I wasn’t exactly thrilled about it either.”

 

Saeyoung gestured to the stairs.  I nodded and put my hand up to represent five minutes.  I’d likely be longer, but I made my point.  I wasn’t just going to leave Hae here while she was in such a bad frame of mind.  Saeyoung quietly made his way out of the room as I sat down on the sofa next to Hae’s head.  She stayed in the same position with her legs dangling over the arm of the chair, pillow clutched to her chest.  We sat in silence for a while as Hae processed what I had told her.  After a while she asked me about what had happened in the city, but my explanation only made her more concerned for her safety, or what would happen if they found her. 

 

So far at least, they were much more interested in pursuing me than Hae, but it didn’t seem like it would really matter which one of us they ended up with based on their plan.  I think Hae just couldn’t process how ridiculous the whole thing was.  Our parents might have been strict and abhorrent, but they never seemed so unhinged that they would believe in some strange cult.  Though if Mint Eye’s funds were to be believed, plenty of other people must be a part of it, all of whom seemed to possess basically everything an average person could ever want.  They had power, money and a family, so what did they hope to gain?  Even if there was a _holy_ baby, what could it possibly do that would warrant such outlandish investment?  Or were they merely those at the top of it all?  When I had infiltrated other cults, they were largely filled with lost, lonely people.  People that were afraid of some incoming disaster or were inspired by their belief in something greater.  In some way, the cult fulfilled something they were missing in their own lives, community, belonging, a sense of purpose; even something as simple as a place to stay. 

 

The _ordinary_ people that made up Mint Eye likely did not have the comforts that their leaders did, yet they espoused some sort of loss or poverty all the same.  From what we gathered, in this case Mint Eye seemed to largely be motivated by warped religious values, the belief that they were waiting for something or someone to save them.  The holy baby and the mother seemed to be equally important in this plan.  The perfect mother must create the perfect baby.  However, based on the small passage we saw in the book, it wasn’t clear whether the mother or the baby had to resemble the woman.  If the mother needed to resemble the woman, why did they need Hae and I at all?  They would just focus on Rika.  If the baby needed to resemble the woman, then surely Rika was _the one_ that should have fixed whatever perceived problem the cult has with the world?  If Rika somehow failed, why do they need her around at all?  Though Rika did appear to give comfort to her original followers…  All in all, it was difficult to ascertain how Rika’s Mint Eye transitioned into Byeong-Cheol’s Mint Eye so flawlessly, as they didn’t appear to hold the same values or beliefs.  In Rika’s Mint Eye, she became the saviour by her actions alone.  Yet in Byeong-Cheol’s Mint Eye, Rika was somehow born into her saviour-hood. 

 

I also believed that the meaning of saviour was different in each group as well.  Byeong-Cheol’s version of saviour appeared to relate more to someone that saves the world from an apocalypse, while the original is purely about Rika’s micro-level actions.  Not that it made much difference in capturing the cult members… Stark liked to remind me that figuring out the methods of the cult wasn’t particularly important unless it led to results.  While the knowledge itself did not ‘solve the problem’, it did at least help me to figure out the correct approach for dismantling the cult without police intervention.  Using the Police often just led to arrests and little to no follow-up or aftercare.  However, with my methods, it allowed Ciar, Zeph and Kimi to help those that managed to leave reengage with society and move on from the cult.  I didn’t envy the difficulty of their work, but the donations we receive during the RFA parties certainly helped to make it easier.

 

After a while, Hae reached the ‘I want to be alone’ stage, so I left to join Saeyoung downstairs.  The scene in his room was familiar, yet still mildly disappointing.  Food, clothes and other junk was strewn across the space, even on top of his bed.  Saeyoung had his head on his desk, not asleep, but seemingly moping.  He didn’t move as I shuffled through the room, moving the debris with my foot.  I sat down in the spare chair beside his own and he decided to acknowledge my presence after a few moments.  He began to wrack my brain about almost every conversation I had ever had with Saeran.  I tried to answer as best I could, but it wasn’t very productive when he wouldn’t tell me what he actually wanted to know.  Every time I tried to question him, he would answer with another question.  It became infuriating, but I knew he was doing it this way for a reason.  He didn’t want me to know something that in his opinion I didn’t need to know.  I understood that he wanted his privacy.  He would vaguely ask if I knew about something, or if Saeran had told me something. 

 

Whatever it was, Saeyoung could not remember the answer, or he had gotten the answer wrong and wanted to know if I knew the correct version of events.  Or at least what Saeran believed was the truth.  My answers largely did not seem to satisfy him, making him either more miserable or more irritable.  Although, he did do his best to keep his misery to himself rather than take it out on me.  He could probably tell how much I genuinely wanted to help him.  After an hour or so, we gave up on it and began to sit in an awkward silence.  I ran my fingers through my hair, pushing back the loose strands that had settled on my forehead, when I finally thought of something. 

 

“If accessing his phone is so complicated, how did Saeran hack into your phone so quickly when we got separated at the mall?”  I asked.

 

“He had already broken into it a long time ago, I just hadn’t noticed it,” Saeyoung began, turning in his chair to face me, “I think he’s been watching us for a while now MC.  He knows too much about what we’ve been up to while he hasn’t been around… haven’t you noticed it yourself?”

 

Now that I thought about it, it made sense.  When we first saw each other again, he spoke about my life like he had been like a fly on the wall.  He knew a lot about me and Saeyoung… our deteriorating relationship, but I had assumed that he had come to that conclusion based on something Saeyoung had told him.  Saeran had just appeared to be oddly perceptive at the time.  It had never occurred to me that he had hacked into our phones and listened to our conversations.

 

I narrowed my eyes at Saeyoung’s grim expression.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“Can you imagine what it was like being stuck in there?”  He questioned, trying to plead Saeran’s case for him, “The loneliness… I’d have done it too just to have a connection to the outside world… to the people I love.  How could I tell him that was wrong?”

 

“Gee I don’t know, an invasion of privacy?  He knew that we were distant...,” I trailed off as the truth of Saeran’s subterfuge finally clicked into place, “And he used it against me to worm his way into life!”

 

“Because he cares about you!” He argued, “He loves you-”

 

“He’s obsessed with me!  Is that really love Saeyoung?  Because I’m not so sure to be honest,” I mocked, watching Saeyoung squirm under the weight of his own illogical reasoning, “And even if he does, that doesn’t justify his actions; he didn’t seem to care about my feelings at all.  I mean, he was pretty happy to cut you out of my life on my behalf.”

 

Saeyoung stared at me blankly.  The only hint of emotion came from his eyes, which began to shine in the dim light.  Was he close to tears?  He already knew what Saeran had done, but he had accepted it for the sake of his brother, even if it damaged the people around him.

 

“That wasn’t the only reason I let you go.”

 

“Oh yeah?” I couldn’t believe we were back to this, having this same conversation _again_.  I was so tired of talking about it.  “Well enlighten me, because I’m sure that whatever you’re going to use as an excuse could have been discussed between us.”

 

“You’re different now, MC.”  He began, with a long exhale, “I wanted to get away from this underground lifestyle I had adopted.  Now Saeran was safe with us, I didn’t need to protect him anymore.  But you… you went straight for it, straight to Vanderwood,” He scrunched up his nose, making his displeasure at the prospect clear. 

 

“You’re no longer soft and warm, a beacon of light that was too good for me.  You’re cynical and cold, exactly what I became while working for the agency.  I can’t believe I never noticed… too self-absorbed I guess.”  His mouth briefly quirked up into a bitter, rueful smile.

 

I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing, making a small noise which caught Saeyoung’s attention.  His eyes shot up to mine, and he frowned at my strange expression.  I was somewhere between furious and amused to hear him speak about me like some sort of used napkin he had discarded.  This was the same excuses he had made before to justify why he had perused Hae in the first place, basically describing her as a replacement for me.

 

“And that’s why you like Hae?  For her innocence?  Do you know how that sounds!?”

 

“Of course I do!”  He scoffed.  “That’s why I didn’t want anything to do with her.”

 

I swallowed and ground my teeth together, trying to dampen my anger.  “Stop acting like my sister forced herself on you!”

 

“I’m not!” He corrected sharply, “I know I gave into it.  I was weak and pathetic.  I missed you terribly… But it was no excuse to do _that._ ”  He whined, pushing his glasses back up his nose.  


“You’re _still_ making this about me?” I asked, eyes widening in disbelief.

 

“I’m not trying to say it’s your fault.  It just made me realise that I shouldn’t have let you go, even if you had changed.  It made me realise that I had let you walk away without even trying and I couldn’t do it again.”

 

My head swam.  His emotions and reasoning were all over the place.  On one side I had turned into some weird dark entity that he wanted nothing to do with, yet now he was insisting that he regretted he had allowed it to happen. 

 

I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose.  “It’s not that simple…”

 

“I know.”  He breathed, his voice soft.  “I know it’s too late now.  I burned away all the happy memories and left you scarred instead.  I’m not expecting anything from you.  All I want is to save what I can, and that’s Saeran.

 

“Saeyoung-” He cut me off with a wave of his hand.

 

“I know he’s done terrible things to you, but he’s doing what I should have, clinging onto hope for dear life.”

 

“I can’t just forget and let it go like you have.”

 

“Just… I don’t know, but I think he needs you.  He was really trying to get to a good place to impress you before this Mint Eye thing started to heat up again.”

 

I smirked at the idea.  Saeran had indeed _tried_ for a few days and we did have a much nicer time together because of it, but I could hardly trust the man if he became a psychopath whenever things became difficult.  He needed to learn to consult with others before throwing himself into a plan of action, or even if he just tried to weigh up of the consequences of his actions first.  Because he definitely appeared to _know_ the consequences, but he either disregarded them or just assumed he could make up for it later.

 

I furrowed my brow.  “I don’t care what he needs, I need to think about myself for once.”

 

The two of us exchanged stares, neither knowing what to say to the other.  I sighed, this wasn’t really Saeyoung’s problem.  He was just trying to help Saeran, as usual, even if that meant siding with a problematic person.  With that in mind, I changed the tone of the conversation, trying to lighten the mood.  Saeyoung was miserable already, without me adding to it.  Besides, he’d made it clear that it didn’t matter what I said about Saeran or what he had done.  Saeran was his brother, no matter what, and that meant he trumped me every time.   

 

“Besides, if he’s aiming to impress me, he’s doing a piss-poor job so far.”  I smirked, almost winking and twirling the moustache I didn’t have with the amount of effort I was putting into it.  This again elicited only a brief smile from Saeyoung, but he couldn’t commit to it.  At least I tried.

 

“He has to make it out alive first.”  He replied quietly, his eyes lingering on the computer screen.

 

I put a comforting hand on his shoulder before taking my leave.  I think it was best to end the conversation there, before it inevitably became nasty again.  I wasn’t as useful as I had hoped I would be, but at least we resolved the elephant in the room… One of the elephants anyway.

As I walked back upstairs, I decided to make the three of us stir-fry as a sign of truce. 

 

When everyone joined me for dinner, Hae and Saeyoung sat on either side of me, using me as a buffer.  I was curious how they had functioned while I was away if they actively tried to avoid each other.  They both remained quiet; Saeyoung tried to engage me in brief conversations, but his heart wasn’t in it and everything we talked about eventually drew back to Saeran.  He felt like he was letting his twin brother down.  The guilt was driving him crazy and he blamed everything on himself.  He frequently mumbled that he should have joined the original rescue, but he hadn’t really wanted to engage with Stark and the team again.  I suppose it made sense if Saeyoung really did want to leave the team altogether, but it still hurt a little to know that he had made the decision not to help me when I was in danger.  Yet again, I wanted to ask, but he was already in such a foul mood that I wasn’t too interested in making it worse by arguing with him again.  It was probably safe to say that the book had closed on Saeyoung and I.  Unless something miraculous happened, or he changed his mind about the organisation, I didn’t have much reason to even talk to him anymore.  It had become clear that there was no hope for friendship between us after all that had happened.

 

\---

 

My phone began to buzz on the dresser, indicating it was time to get up.  I had slept in Saeran’s room with Hae to avoid any arguments.  It wasn’t the most comfortable experience, since Hae was a duvet-hog and snored like a Wildebeest, but it was better than sleeping on the lumpy sofa that was still covered in cat fur and occupied by a blanket fortress.  I took my time getting ready, since I didn’t have any of my clothes from the apartment I had to make do with what was lying around.  Plus, since we were expecting a fight, I needed to wear something that would disguise the weapons I had to take with me.  Stark was insistent about how prepared we should be and what position we should take in the venue.  He didn’t want Jaehee, Zen, Jumin or Rika to be there, but it might look suspicious if they weren’t around.  After all, they were here for Rika and to a lesser extent, me.  We just needed to be careful and make sure they were closer to the back exits than the rest of us were, so they could get out of the way if we couldn’t reach a peaceful solution.  Hae was still asleep when I was done, and I could hear Saeyoung moving around downstairs.  At least I didn’t have to wake him up; I really wasn’t in the mood to wait for him to get ready or be forced to leave the bunker with him looking like a bedraggled owl.  He was messy enough already, he didn’t need _extra_ help.

 

Saeyoung was ready to go after I had my morning tea.  Neither of us ate anything since we had been assured that there was too much food to go around at the _party_ anyway.  It seemed a waste when we might only be there for an hour or so, however I imagined that Jaehee had already set up some sort of donation idea for it.  So long as it didn’t get blood on it or something.  While I wasn’t thrilled about what we would be doing today already, it became exponentially worse when Stark messaged me to say that Jumin had confirmed his and Rika’s attendance, but said nothing else whatsoever.  He tried to call him to find out what the hell he’d been up to, but Jumin ignored it and all the subsequent messages Stark sent him as well.  Stark was furious, and I didn’t blame him at all.  I was at least happy to hear he was alright, if that was truly him anyway, but Jumin better have a good explanation for his absence.  Sure, it had only been a day, but so much had happened yesterday that he could have really helped with.  I wasn’t sure if I could even bear to talk to him.  We had important things to do at the party and arguing with Jumin wasn’t one of them.  However, if I knew Stark, he wouldn’t outwardly argue with Jumin, it was more likely that he would be very passive aggressive.  Progressively grinding Jumin down until he snapped.  Lovely.

 

When we arrived at the venue, which turned out to be a small conference hall, Saeyoung remained still.  He made no attempt to exit from the car and continued to grip onto the steering wheel for dear life.  I waved my hand in front of his face and he suddenly jerked back in his seat like he had been electrocuted.

 

“Are you okay?”  I asked apprehensively, staring at the side of his startled face.

 

He breathed heavily for a few seconds before calming down.  He slowly let go of the wheel and wiped his hands on his jeans.

 

“I’m really not ready for this.”  He exhaled, his voice jittery.

 

“For… what?”

 

He removed his glasses and began to wipe the lenses on his shirt.  I assumed it was due to nervousness rather than them needing to be cleaned. 

 

“To be in such a stressful situation.  It’s been a long time.”

 

“You’ve had plenty of training… I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

 

“Sure, but I wouldn’t say I’m in the best place… mentally.”

 

I narrowed my eyes at the dashboard, settling back in my seat.  I wasn’t going to be leaving anytime soon.  I wished I’d have left the car without talking to him.  We already drove here in silence, it wouldn’t have made much difference to continue it further.

 

“You wanted to be here Saeyoung.”

 

“Because I was angry and wanted revenge, but that’s not going to help me get Saeran back.  Can’t ask questions to a dead man.”

 

“You were planning on killing one of them?”

 

“No!” He insisted, whipping his head round to face me. “No… I just wouldn’t have a problem with it if everything went wrong.”

 

“Would you think for just a minute?  There are people we care about in there; you shouldn’t be striving to fire a gun around them, even if it is to keep them safe!  A gun should be a last resort-”

 

“Okay, okay!  I get it Saint Gun-Control… geez.”

 

I bit my lip in frustration.  How could he say that and act like I’m the hysterical one?

 

“I hope they’re happier to see you than I am.”  I grumbled, swiftly leaving the car and slamming the door behind me.

 

I strode towards the entrance alone.  I knew that would piss him off.  He already had to borrow one of the organisation’s cars since his were too valuable and impractical to use as an escape vehicle.  But slamming the door?  A massive pet peeve of his, though that was probably because most of his cars were ridiculous.  A single dent, or one tiny little scratch could lessen their value by half.

 

As I pushed through the entrance door, I noticed a sign for our party pointing into the room to the left.  I followed along and ran into Jeong, Jaehee’s assistant.  She was sat down at a desk to the right of the conference room’s entrance, typing away on a small laptop.  I wasn’t aware she was going to be here.  It seemed odd to include her when we were expecting trouble to arise, especially since she would be the first person someone could run into.  Jeong immediately looked up and smiled at me.

 

“Ah, MC, there you are!  The others are right through there.”  She gestured to the room ahead of us.

 

“Aren’t you joining us?”

 

“I’ll be working on Jaehee’s behalf while she’s here.  Don’t worry about it, I was promised free food anyway.”  She replied, waving away my concerns.

 

“Okay.”  I smiled, looking at the collection of food and drinks she had around her.  It seems Zen and Jaehee had gone overboard.  “I’ll see you later.”

 

She nodded as I walked through the door.  My ears were immediately blown by the sound of loud music playing.  Classical piano music of all things.  Then I noticed the people.  There were _so many_ people stuffed in here, like it was one of our RFA parties.  What was going on?  Had I gone in the wrong room?  I slid to the left of the door and pressed my back against the wall.  I scanned the room trying to find _someone_ I knew in the chaos.  Most of the guests were reminiscent of the type of people Jumin worked with on a daily basis.  Clients with more money than kindness or courtesy.  They wore full business attire, with the odd person wearing business-casual, _oh the humanity._   I felt very underdressed in my jeans, blouse and boots, the sole few items I had to my name at the current moment in time.  I likely stuck out like a poor, underprivileged, sore thumb.  Though these seemed the type to ignore people that were _beneath_ them rather than mock them.

 

I soon spied Jaehee off to one side, trying to balance about six conversations at once.  It didn’t look to friendly either.  The ‘guests’ seemed to be ordering her around, asking for her to bring them drinks, or at least I assumed so, since she was shakily carrying an overfilled tray of champagne.  I made my way over to her and she soon spotted me.  She looked happy to see me.

 

“Oh MC!  Thank god you’re here.”  She sighed, carefully placing the tray down on the closest available surface.

 

I grabbed her hand and pulled her off to one side.  She initially looked confused before realising my intentions.  We both leant against the wall.  She was likely tired and stressed out, whereas I was merely feeling lazy and uncomfortable by this unexpected situation.

 

I leant in close to her ear, so she could hear me better.  “What’s happening here?”

 

“I-I don’t know.”  She glared, rolling her shoulders and stretching her wrists, “Jumin arrived with Rika in toe and then all these fancy business-types filed in after him.  I tried to ask, but he seemed to be too busy entertaining to notice.”

 

I quickly looked around the room.  “Where’s Stark?”

 

She laughed shakily, looking off into the crowd.  “Last I saw him he was… having a-uh, _great_ time.”

 

“So, he’s drunk?”

 

“I would say so, yes.”

 

I resisted the urge to bang my head on the wall and settled for rubbing my face into my hand.  I didn’t care if my make-up got smudged at this point.  This operation seemed to be a complete mess anyway.  Plus, drunk Stark sucked.  He became so sullen and sassy, it was unbearable.

 

“I’ll check the bar.”

 

Jaehee placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled.  “Try and give him a break.  I think he already had a… heated conversation with Jumin.”

 

“Guess I’ll be on my best behaviour then.”

 

No wonder he had resorted to drinking.  While the two often clashed over ideas, they rarely argued.  I suppose this meant that whatever plan or excuse Jumin had come up with for this situation did not satisfy Stark _at all_.  I pushed and slid my way towards the bar, earning me a plethora of angry whispers and slicing scowls.  I didn’t run into anyone I wanted to see on the way there, so I quickly spied Stark, sat at the bar alone.  He was hunched over in his seat, his arm resting on the table, supporting his moping face.  I hoped up onto the seat next to him, but he didn’t notice my existence straight away.

 

“Great party, right?”  I stated with a sarcastic grin on my face.

 

His eyes narrowed before slowly rolling up to my face.  When he realised it was me, he sat up straight and pushed his hair back from his face.

 

“About time you got here!  Tell your boyfriend to get his act together.”

 

I briefly looked off to one side, ignoring his comment.  I had more important things to talk to him about.

 

“So, this is Jumin’s idea then?

 

“Obviously.”  He glowered, swirling the liquid around in his glass.  “He thought the exposure would help to make Mint Eye a public enemy and the people would be a good distraction.  All this will do is either scare them away or get one of these pompous idiots shot in the cross-fire.”

 

Now that was interesting.  Was Jumin looking to show how big of a threat Mint Eye was to public?  Because, I’m pretty sure the events from yesterday proved that.  Unless he thought a more high-profile target would be more useful in gaining the support of the government or police force.

 

“Seems a tad too risky for Jumin.”

 

“Exactly.  As if I don’t have enough to do already with the madness you three created in Valdez, the constant identity forgery, or _any_ of the events from yesterday…”  He counted off on his fingers before losing his trail of thought.

 

“Is that why you’re sat here wasting time?”  I gestured to his glass with a flourish of my hand.

 

“Are you trying to say I’m drunk?”  Stark stifled a mocking laugh with the back of his hand.  “Pah, far from it.”

 

“Well you hardly look sober.”

 

“True.”  He smirked, taking a small sip from his glass.  “So, what can I do for you MC?”

 

“Did he explain why he was M.I.A yesterday?”

 

“Never asked.  Was too busy trying not to punch him in front of his entourage.”

 

I laughed nervously, while a startled eavesdropper looked towards us in horror.  It was all just a joke Lady, _really._   I turned back towards Stark, feeling deflated.

 

“Okay, well… what is the plan now?  Surely we can’t keep it the same?”

 

“According to Jumin we can.  Improvise, he said.  Try and adapt.”

 

“And you went along with that?”

 

He gave me a hard look to suggest that no, he hadn’t agreed to this at all, and how dare I even ask that.

 

I held up my hands in surrender.  “Okay, okay!  I’ll… improvise.”

 

Stark laughed, tilting his head back before sliding off his seat.  “Go talk to Jumin, have a few laughs.”

 

I sighed as I watched him half-stagger to the back-room area.  It was adorned with a staff only sign, so I assumed it was the base of operations.  The rest of the team were likely in there as well, as I couldn’t imagine them trying to mingle with this crowd.  At least Stark had dressed for the occasion unlike me.  I didn’t really want to find Jumin and interrupt him in front of the upper echelons of society knowing I wasn’t dressed _appropriately_.  I knew Jumin didn’t care much about it himself, but he still had a reputation and all that.  Likewise, I was worried about restraining myself from slapping his dumb, oblivious face.  Saeyoung might have decided to decline helping me, but we weren’t even on the best of terms at the time.  Jumin had fallen off the face of the earth for no apparent reason whatsoever.

 

I wandered through the sea of people, but it took a while for me to find Jumin as he was surrounded by at least twenty guests.  Rika was stood beside him, looking weirdly normal, how I imagined she used to be at these types of events.  It was unnerving.  Even if she was back on her medication, it didn’t work _that_ quickly.  I was distracted by a tap on my shoulder.  I whirled around to see a flash of fluffy blonde hair merge back into the crowd.  Was that… Yoosung?  My skin began to prickle uncomfortably, making me feel itchy.  Was Mint Eye already here amongst the crowd?  I mean, if they wore the right attire, they would blend in easily.  I felt a hand at the small of my back and I recoiled, colliding with another female guest.  I looked up to see an embarrassed and bewildered looking Zen staring down at me with his hand outstretched.  I didn’t even realise I had fallen over.  Zen became distracted when the woman began screeching at me, assuming I was pat of the _help_ or was someone that had snuck inside uninvited.  He attempted to calm her down, but she wasn’t having any of it, demanding I be thrown out of the venue.  I glared at the woman, which she regarded as a threat.  This drew the crowd, as everyone began to turn around to watch the developing drama with gleeful eyes.  Unfortunately, this also drew Jumin’s attention.  He stomped through the crowd before his eyes snapped between me and the woman.  He gave me a meaningful look that I couldn’t quite figure out before he immediately turned his charm onto the woman.  She fell for it immediately, instantly cheering up and melting into his hands.  She threw one last glare at me over her shoulder as he led her away, allowing her to join his circle of _friends_.  Zen looked on in confusion until he remembered that I was still on the ground wiping the dust from my trousers.  He helped me to my feet and everyone turned their attention back to their previous activity.

 

“Are you okay?”  He asked, helping me to dust myself off.

 

“Yeah, sure.”  I mumbled, glancing back to Jumin and his high-society club.  “If I didn’t _have_ to be here, I’d definitely leave.”

 

“Yeah, this is even a bit too much for me.  For the past hour all I’ve had is old women beg me to marry their middle-aged, workaholic daughters.”

 

“Is that _so terrible_?”

 

He chuckled, smoothing down my flyaway hairs.  “I’m already a workaholic as it is, don’t need two of us.”

 

We were interrupted by the sound of a spoon clinking a glass.  Everyone turned their attention to the sound.  It was Jumin, of course, asking for us to all join him at the back of the room, requesting his _honourable friends_ to join him by his side.  Zen and I looked at each other, assuming he meant us with that statement, and reluctantly shuffled down towards him.  The others were already gathered behind him, with Rika standing by his side.  Well, if this was supposed to be her birthday party, I suppose he would have to make a speech of some kind to an audience this large.  He’d even roped Stark into this, the man stood rigid like a statue, prepared to act at any moment.  Zen squeezed in next to Saeyoung at the front, because of course he did, while I slinked towards the back of the pile next to Stark.  He gave me a withering look and crossed his arms, clearly wanting to melt onto the floor.  None of the team were here, so I assumed they were staking out the room somewhere, blending into the crowd.  I saw the woman I had collided with clench her fists while glaring at me, an expression she maintained the entire time I stood there.  After everyone was settled, Jumin began to introduce Rika to the crowd, announcing her birthday and her readmittance to he role in the RFA, the organisation that was named after her.  The crowd clapped politely and Jumin waited for them to calm down before beginning to speak again.  He announced us again as his honourable friends when a glass smashed against the ground at the front of the crowd.  The others moved back from the person, clad in black, a large hood disguising their appearance.  How had no one noticed someone wearing a hooded cloak?  Even with the large guest list, you’d think someone dressed like that would stand out.

 

The sound of a man’s voice echoed around the otherwise silent room.  It was deep and gruff, a sound I would associate with an older man, not Yoosung.

 

“It seems you are missing someone.”

 

Everyone stared at the cloaked man, waiting for his next move.  I saw Stark settle his hand atop the gun in his jacket pocket, so I moved to do the same.  Except, I no longer had my gun in my pocket.  Before I could mention it, the man began speaking again.

 

“Or perhaps you do not even care anymore.  Are all your friends just as expendable Mr Han?”  He asked and with a flourish pushed back his hood to reveal Yoosung. 

 

But Yoosung had not been the one speaking, no way.  My eyes darted around the room as the crowd began murmuring and exchanging worried looks with each other.  I saw an older man leaving the room alongside two others, closing the door behind him.  I nudged Stark and pointed in that direction and he nodded, indicting he had seen it as well.  Rika stepped forward in Yoosung’s direction, but Jumin placed a firm hand on her shoulder to halt her.  Yoosung smiled, a kind and familiar smile I had frequently seen upon his face in the past before pulling out a gun from within his cloak.  He pointed it towards our direction, seemingly without a particular target in mind.  The crowd began to panic, some screaming, some banging on the entrance door trying to escape, while others simply stood and observed.  This was all ignored by our group and Yoosung.

 

Jumin pushed forward, placing himself in front of Rika.  “What is your plan here Yoosung?  What do you want?”

 

“The important people of course, my Cousin and MC.  Perhaps even the younger one if you have her,” Yoosung shrugged, looking directly at Jumin, “Why else would I be here?”

 

“I had hoped you were here for something more reasonable.”

 

Yoosung laughed at Jumin and I started to notice Saeyoung moving closer to Yoosung with Zen close behind him.  What were they planning on doing?  Stark noticed this as well, so the two of us started to creep to their side of the room, hopefully without drawing Yoosung’s attention.  Stark didn’t look happy to see me follow him, but he wasn’t able to argue with me.

 

“I’m being unreasonable?” Yoosung placed a hand on his chest and shook his head, “As far as we can see, you have taken _our_ family away from us.”

 

“They don’t want to be with you,” Jumin’s eyes flicked down to the gun before meeting Yoosung’s again. “All you have done is bring them pain.”

 

“Jumin!”  Rika whispered angrily. 

 

Jumin ignored Rika’s pleas, and held his arm out behind him, suggesting to Rika that she should stay out of it, or at least to shut up.  Yoosung’s face twisted into an arrogant glare.

 

“At least we would let her speak for herself.”  Yoosung announced, trying to meet Rika’s gaze. 

 

I wasn’t sure if he wanted to convince her to come with him, or if he just wanted to piss off Jumin.  Saeyoung and Zen were vey close to him now, if they leapt out from their position, they could probably reach him, if that was their intention.  Stark pressed his lips together, close to scowling.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he was displeased by their plan.  It was quite risky.  All Yoosung would have to do was swing his arm to the side and he could easily shoot them at close range.  Stark gritted his teeth and stepped out from the wall, placing himself just behind Jumin to the left.  This meant that Yoosung would have to turn his attention away from Saeyoung and Zen to be able to look at Stark.  To move the plan along quicker, Stark aimed his gun at Yoosung, immediately capturing his ire.

 

“That’s not the impression I received when your people chased MC through the city yesterday,” Stark’s lips curled up into a devious grin, “You could have just sent her a nice fruit basket.”

 

Yoosung’s hand tensed on the gun, before moving it to aim at Stark instead of Jumin.  He scowled at Stark’s attempt at humour.

 

“Oh, so the true man behind the curtain has arrived.  It’s a shame you won’t make it out of here; we had fun toying with you.”

 

Stark rolled his eyes and moved closer to Jumin’s side.  “Even if you somehow _managed_ to shoot me, I’m perfectly happy to take out all the friends you brought with you before I die.”

 

Yoosung grumbled to himself, looking down at the floor.  Stark took the opportunity to signal Zen and Saeyoung to act by waving his fingers to the side, but Yoosung noticed it first.  He whirled to the side as Zen and Saeyoung rushed him, all three of them fighting over the gun.  Rika burst forward with her hand held up towards them, willing them to stop.

 

“No!”  Rika screeched as the gun went off and the three of them fell to the ground in a heap.

 

Yoosung quickly rolled over the two of them, sprang up to his feet and began to bolt out of the door.  I pushed away from the wall and sprinted after him.  Stark called my name, but I had already burst through the back door, the steel slamming against the wall behind me.  I saw him run around the corner and I followed.  I was faster and had more stamina than Yoosung, so I managed to catch up to him after a few minutes of straight running.  We had reached a park and I managed to grab onto the hood of his cloak.  I yanked it to the side, throwing him off balance.  I planted my feet, with one outstretched to the side and tripped him over.  He crumbled to the floor and I leapt on top of him, holding his torso down with my body weight.  Luckily Yoosung wasn’t a big guy, so my small stature was just enough to keep him grounded, despite his wiggling.  I quickly looked at our surroundings to see many people staring at the scene before them, but they quickly minded their own business when they noticed that I was watching them.

 

“I didn’t want it to end like this!”  Yoosung ground out, spitting dirt and grass out of his mouth.

 

I grabbed a fist full of his silken locks and smashed his face into the ground in response.  He let out a groan and thankfully shut the fuck up while I waited for Stark or the team to catch up to me.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	25. Day Eighteen: Impatience

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there,
> 
> Just to let you know, my uploads "may" become less frequent due to a combination of life changes and losing a bit of interest in writing this particular story.
> 
> Nethertheless, don't worry, I will still finish it and I thank all of you that have enjoyed my work so far :)

 

I was curled up in an armchair wearing headphones, the beeping sound from the monitor had gotten on my nerves within the first hour.  At least it had been better than sitting with a traumatised Jaehee in the hospital waiting room.  I managed to convince her to go home after a while.  Well, I say convinced, it more accurate to say I ordered her to leave.  I knew she would hate me for that, but I had to do it for everyone’s sake.  He had managed to survive so far, this was the least I could do.  Plus, I was here to protect _him_.  Jaehee wouldn’t be very helpful as back-up.  Since we rushed here, I hadn’t brought anything to do other than messing around with the apps on my ‘new’ phone.  But, I was still restless, forever waiting to hear some a new update from Stark.  Anything positive.

 

Stark had been going at it for hours.  _Questioning_ Yoosung.  I’m sure it started out that way, but by now I wouldn’t be surprised if it had turned ugly.  He hadn’t told us anything that Stark deemed useful to the investigation.  No locations, nothing about the people involved, or what had happened to Saeran.  He was perfectly happy to proselytize and discuss the wider beliefs of Mint Eye and the _Originals_ , but he wouldn’t tell us their true motivations or what they planned to do next.  He claimed he did not know the plan beyond what he had already told us, as he was merely a _footman._   His role was mainly to antagonise us by turning someone we cared about and making them fight against us.  It seemed plausible, but Stark refused to believe that he knew nothing else at all; it was just too convenient to be true.  Of the few things he had told us of note, he confirmed that the old man we heard speaking was Byeong-Cheol Yi, the current leader.  He had decided at the last minute to attend the event in the flesh.  Yoosung insisted he did not know the purpose of this, as the man usually did not lift a finger.  All he did was leave a firefight behind him. 

 

After I had left the scene, Mint Eye began to shoot at my friends, but they were able to leave using the back entrance.  Some of the party attendees weren’t so lucky.  They got caught in the cross-fire, some were killed, but most were injured.  The hospitals in the area were under extreme strain with what occurred on the streets and what had happened a mere few hours ago.  A surprising amount of _posh_ party-goers did not have the luxury of private healthcare, so they were treated the same as any other patient, no special treatment.  However, Jumin had paid for this out of his own pocket, since it was largely his fault that this had happened in the first place.  At least, according to him, it was his fault.  I was still resolute in my stance that the fault was my own.  All the people that have been injured or killed… it was all about me.  Mint Eye want me, and everyone has tried to protect me from that.  Though this whole thing itself, I blame my parents for, or whoever this Byeong-Cheol Yi is.  While Rika’s Mint Eye had been involved in some terrible things, the new leadership has allowed the cult to rise several levels above that.  The worst thing about it is that I know they believe they are doing the right thing.

 

Jumin hadn’t come to the hospital yet.  He was too _busy_ monitoring the investigation.  I shouldn’t really complain, since I didn’t want to speak to him.  Boy, had I made that loud and clear when he _finally_ showed up.  Still, I wanted to know what was happening, or what his next _genius_ idea was.  Ah, who am I kidding, I wanted to complain and vent my anger at him again, to see him squirm under his veneer of tranquillity.  Even if he did have a good explanation for his absence, I didn’t care about hearing it.  Though, while I was bitter at being left here on guard duty, I imagined Jumin was having a hard time reigning in Stark’s anger.  According to Stark, Yoosung was being rather difficult, avoiding questions or goading him.  He’d even had to take a short break after the last titbit of news Yoosung shared with him and I didn’t blame him for having that reaction at all.  At the time, while Stark was trying to gather information, Yoosung chose to distract Stark by informing him that he admired Jeong’s stubborn resistance before they killed her to gain entry to the party.  When the team found her, they discovered she had been stabbed in the throat, left to die alone in the entryway.  Stark assumed there was more to it than that however, believing they had used they used her and then disposed of her. 

 

They had used Jeong to siphon information from Jaehee.  Whether Jeong had knowledge of this, we could not say, and Yoosung wasn’t being particularly helpful in this regard either.  As well as misdirection, he also enjoyed lying to Stark.  Such as claiming that he had been the one to infiltrate my apartment because he wanted to bring me in himself.   He insisted that if he had been the one to capture me at the party, he would have been able to protect me from the more aggressive members of Mint Eye, so in his eyes he was doing me a favour as a friend.  He had planted the box so that I could escape from my apartment before they arrived.  While the explanation _could_ be true, the execution was a pure lie; Yoosung could never be trained to pull of the acrobatic feats required to reach my apartment’s balcony.  It must have been someone else, but what was the point in hiding their identity?  It was more than likely some random, unappreciated underling that helped him anyway, as based on his own description of himself, he was not all that important or high ranking within Mint Eye.

 

I bolted upright in my seat when the nurse entered the room.  She apologised for startling me and I waved away her concern.  This was the only nurse I had liked so far, so I didn’t want to push her away too.  She would always come in and just do her job.  She didn’t try to pry into what happened or ask me about what they were saying on the news.  I watched her carefully as she brushed the curly red locks away from his forehead.  He had a bad fever, so all his hair was plastered to the sweat on his brow and his clothes no doubt clung uncomfortably to his skin.  I assumed it would be uncomfortable anyway, I hadn’t been able to ask.  He had been unconscious since the incident.  Thankfully Zen was strong enough to drag Saeyoung out of the building before he could get hit by the spray of bullets from the operatives in the crowd.  Zen had stayed with the inconsolable Jaehee.  He promised he would come back to relieve me from my post, but one of the team would be coming soon anyway.  They were the only people besides me that Jumin would trust to guard Saeyoung.  

 

I wouldn’t say Stark was thrilled about the idea.  After what had happened to Jeong, I knew he basically didn’t trust anyone, again, similarly to when we found out that Ujin was a traitor.  Stark had spent a few days re-vetting the team after that incident, but he didn’t have anyone else to send here and he oddly didn’t want me to spend my time stuck here for so long either.  I guess he wanted to give me a break?  He warned me not to make any rash decisions, but it was hard to sit here and watch what was potentially someone’s slow descent into oblivion.  Someone that still mattered to me despite it all.  How many people needed to get hurt or die for me?  Saeyoung and Jeong….  I knew Saeyoung didn’t do it _for_ me or Rika, he just wanted to end the bloodshed before it began.  But the situation wouldn’t have happened without us, and I see myself as responsible for that. 

 

I suppose I could blame Yoosung, since he was the one that shot him after all.  He seemed to be petty distraught about it from all accounts, but was it all for show?  To make someone feel sorry for him and let their guard down?  He’d conducted most of the interrogation with tears in his eyes or crying.  Stark said it was pathetic.  It destroyed his concentration, which is why we all assumed it was an act.  Yoosung just wanted to waste our time, it was like he knew that we were under pressure to figure something out before the Police came to take him away.  We still couldn’t trust him, he had to be playing us… but what was he waiting for?

 

As I waited for the nurse to leave, I finally received the message I had been waiting for.  Zeph was coming to take my place and would be here in a few minutes, thank god.  I had to restrain myself from running straight out of the room.  I walked over to Saeyoung’s bed and stared at him, wondering what to do.  I could write him a note, but I wouldn’t want anyone else to read it.  If he made it, I suppose I could apologise for it then.  I paced up and down the room until Zeph arrived, he looked a little out of sorts, but not too bad when considering what had happened.

 

“Hey,” He waved briefly, looking down at Saeyoung with a sigh, “he’s still unconscious then?”

 

“A few twitches here and there, but he hasn’t stirred or moved since.”

 

“It’s still early doors, I’m sure-”

 

He hesitated when he saw the expression on my face.  “I’ll see you later, Zeph.”

 

“S-sure.  I’ll call you if anything happens.”

 

I smiled, it was weak but genuine.  “Thank you.”

 

I hurried out of the room before he could say anything else.  Jaehee had driven me here, so I had to make my own way to the warehouse.  I figured that the bus might be the best option at this point.  There would still be a few running at this time.  Mint Eye might be watching me, but in a few hours, it wouldn’t matter.  I had no doubt that they already knew of its location, they’ve had plenty of time to figure it out.  They must know they had no hope of getting inside, or that it would be too much effort to try.  The person I wanted to see was Yoosung.  I had to be careful, Stark would be watching from the other room.  I had to agree to his terms, or I wouldn’t be allowed to do it.  Stark and Jumin didn’t want any of the information to get out, especially with the police breathing down Jumin’s neck.  They wanted to arrest Yoosung, but somehow Jumin had convinced them to hold off for a while.  I’m not sure how much time was left before they would intervene, so I needed to be quick.

 

It took a good hour for me to reach the warehouse.  I walked up the long, winding driveway and quickly checked my phone for the thousandth time.  I hadn’t received any messages.  It didn’t really matter, as I was almost there anyway.  That was when I heard the warning bell.  They had kept the same alarm that the warehouse used to use, just so passers-by wouldn’t be suspicious or interested in the new activity.  The alarm would only ring in an emergency, a warning that indicated the facility was going into lock down.  I ran.  The gate would soon be closing as well, and it was still a few hundred meters away.  I wouldn’t make it in time.  I sighed and watched as the gate slowly closed ahead of me.  I jogged towards the speaker panel.  It would be quicker to use that than trying to call Stark on my phone.  I typed in the code and rang the extension for the main office.  Someone must still be in there.  It rang for a while before someone picked it up.

 

A quiet, muffled voice answered the call.  “Hello?”

 

“It’s MC.”

 

“MC, what are you-!?” Lotus sharply inhaled, interrupting herself, “You need to get out of here.  Someone helped Yoosung escape.”

 

“What?  Who?!”

 

“We don’t know!”  She cried hastily, still whispering.  “They shut down all the power.  I’m in the office on my own, I don’t know where the others are!” 

 

Now I understood her panic.  Not only was she alone, she was locked into the one of the only rooms that didn’t have an individual code lock, just a simple key lock.  If you were in the main corridor, you could easily break the door to the office, it wasn’t a secure room.  Shutting off the power meant no one could unlock the doors unless they had the master code.  A code that only Stark knew.  From what I could see from the gate, someone had turned off the power before the shutters could close on the windows, meaning the office was the best route to use as an exit.  A simple door barge and a broken window was all you needed.  Lotus could also try and do this to escape, but she would be drawing attention to herself and end up wandering around outside to find a place to hide or try her hand at scaling the wall and barbed fence.

 

I looked though the bars of the fence, surveying the area.  “I don’t see anyone out here…”

 

“Good.  Then get away from here, you don’t know who you’ll run into outside.”

 

“But I can help-!”

 

“You can help by calling the police and going home.  Even if they’re here for Yoosung, they’re still looking for you and we don’t need another problem on our hands.”

 

“Alright fine… Do you know which room Stark was in?”

 

“Stark?  Probably still in the in-” She paused, grumbling something under her breath. “Nice try MC.  I’m not having you hanging around calling every room in the building.  Just leave already!”

 

She put down the phone.  I rolled my eyes and began to ring the police and Zeph for assistance, but I wasn’t going to leave just yet.  I couldn’t let Yoosung and his _friend_ just walk away.  I started calling the other extensions, starting with the interrogation room, while I fired off a text to Zeph.  Knowing him, he’d try to come as soon as he could, even if he had to leave Saeyoung on his own.  No one responded in the interrogation room, but the police were happy to respond when I called about the _armed robbery_ and would come as soon as possible.  Shortly after that, someone picked up the phone in the break room of all places.  They didn’t speak, but I could hear someone breathing.

 

“Hello?”  I asked, hoping they were simply suspicious of the phone. 

 

I heard a sniffling noise, a short pause and then some faraway giggling.  That sounded like the creepy laugh that Yoosung has used when he chased me through the city.

 

“Yoosung?”

 

The line was quiet before the man made a satisfied humming noise.  “Oh MC, it’s so lovely to hear from you.  Are you stuck in here too?”

 

It was Yoosung, so he had escaped from the cell.  I paused for a moment, unsure of what to say when I heard him laughing again.  I grimaced.

 

“Or are you perhaps outside?  That would explain the noise…”

 

I stiffened, he must be able to hear the wind in the background, cackling down the line.  I needed to hang up the phone, but I kept hesitating.  Yoosung was the one I needed to speak to, but I didn’t want him to know where I was in case he was waiting for reinforcements.

 

“Well, you left the windows open.  Makes it pretty breezy.”

 

“Oh, is that so?”  He crooned sarcastically, “It matters little anyhow, I wasn’t expecting you to be here.  This is all just for me.”

 

“How are you doing this?”

 

“A special friend came to my aid, of course.  I did hope I would get to see you before I left, but I suppose this will have to do.  I can come back for you later.”

 

I clenched my fist, my nails digging into my palm.  “Why are you on their side?  I don’t understand…”

 

“You could, if you would only come with me.”

 

“You’re being controlled-”

 

He snorted loudly.  “And you’re not?  How free are you in _modern_ society exactly?  Even the rich are held back by expectations and their reputation.  Don’t you want to save this world?”

 

“What are you talking about?”  I narrowed my eyes at the gate speaker.

 

I heard scuffling in the background as he sighed.  “It seems our time is up for now, but you know how to find me.  Stay safe, MC.” 

 

The line clicked off before I could respond.  Had the team caught up to Yoosung?  I hoped it wouldn’t end poorly.  Maybe Yoosung was still in there _somewhere,_ could he truly be upset about Saeyoung and genuinely care about my wellbeing?  But Mint Eye… did he really believe that they could save the world?  It was true that there was a lot that was wrong with the world, but based on their actions so far, I could only imagine that their idea of ‘saving the world’ was through subjugation or some type of fire and brimstone approach.  How could someone so sweet and kind-hearted as Yoosung believe in that?  I rested my head against the soothing cold of the gate when I heard a rumbling sound. 

 

My head snapped up to see part of the wall crumbling down on the east side of the warehouse perimeter.  Had they blown it up?  Then I saw two dark figures running towards the rubble.  Yoosung.  It must be.  I quickly spun to the side and sprinted towards the broken wall.  As I rounded the corner of the wall, I saw the two of them dive through the hole.  They quickly turned and ran towards the woods without looking back.  I followed.  They both wore long black cloaks, like the one Yoosung had worn to the party.  I heard shouting back at the warehouse, but I didn’t have time to see what was happening. 

 

I darted into the treeline, slowing my pace slightly so I could watch out for any stray branches.  The two beyond me were struggling.  One had no problem, they sailed through the trees like a natural, but the other was flagging behind, causing them both to slow down.  It had to be Yoosung at the back, he might be half decent on a flat surface, but running randomly through the woods like this could be dangerous.  However, it did allow me to catch up.

 

“Yoosung!”  I shouted.  The flagging figure stopped while the other kept running.  He turned around and lowered his hood.  Stark had really done a number on his face, he was covered in bruises and broken skin.

 

Despite this, he smiled brightly while panting.  “Perhaps you wanted to join me after all?”

 

“I’m here to take you back.”  I winced as I tied to flex my ankle.  I must have strained it during the chase.

 

Yoosung held out his hand to me.  “There’s no going back for me now.” 

 

I stared at his hand until he placed it back down at his side.  He looked disappointed.

 

“I still can’t convince you then?”

 

I shook my head, beginning to move closer to him.

 

He put up his hand.  “I don’t want you to get hurt MC.”

 

I kept advancing and Yoosung looked at the ground, looking like a scolded child.  It was then that I felt a hand on my shoulder.  Cold, even through the layers of my jacket and blouse.  My vision was blurred by the sleeve of a cloak as something was sprayed into my face.  I instinctually squeezed my eyes shut and tried to hold my breath while I fought my way out, but I wasn’t strong enough to move the iron grip that held me by a millimetre.  I clawed away at the arm as my head became hazy and my eyes unfocused.  Yoosung slowly approached me and placed his hand gently on my cheek, his fingers softly stroking my skin.  He looked deep into my eyes.  I could only focus on him.  His soft purple eyes framed by dark circles and thick lashes.

 

“Come home, Mina.”

 

\---

 

Warmth caressed my cold face.  Soft voices floated around me.  I could hear the wind gliding through the branches, leaves dancing in the grass.  My body was heavy, I couldn’t force my limbs to respond to my will.  Yoosung… he drugged me?  The realisation made me begin to panic.  I was hyperventilating, unable to move.  Had he taken me?

 

“MC?”

 

My eyes snapped open.  Stark was peering down at me, gently tapping my cheek.  I was wrapped in scratchy black fabric.  I could feel it tickling my arms, making me uncomfortable.  I tried to answer Stark, but all that came out was slurred, incomprehensible nonsense.  He frowned and turned away from me.

 

“She’s been drugged.”  He announced to someone behind him.  I heard twigs snapping and bushes rustling as someone else began to approach.

 

“Like Amun?”

 

“I believe so.” 

 

“Hmm, it must be relatively safe, or they would not have administered it to _her_.”

 

Stark scoffed, his warmth leaving my face.  “Why don’t you ask your new girlfriend?”

 

There was a momentary pause before a reply.  “What are you trying to say, Francis?”

 

“I don’t trust either of them and neither should you.  How else did they get in-?”

 

“I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions-”

 

Stark chuckled, slow and deliberate.  “Yes, and that went so well yesterday didn’t it, Han?”

 

The two became quiet after that.  Han…?  Was Stark talking to Jumin?  Of course, I knew Jumin was here overseeing the investigation, but I didn’t expect to see him or hear from him.  Especially after I chewed him out the last time he tried to engage with me.  That’s likely why he was keeping his distance from me, or he was too busy caring for Rika to pay attention to me.  Wow… that sounded incredibly whiney coming from me.  I closed my hand around something soft.  Stark turned back to face me with a small smile.  I had grabbed onto the sleeve of his jacket.

 

“Finally joining us in reality, eh MC?”

 

“Wh-What…”

 

“It’s okay.”  He ran his fingers through my hair.  “You don’t have to rush yourself.  We have plenty of time to talk.”

 

I blinked up at him and he slowly pulled me up into a sitting position, supporting my back with his arm.  Jumin looked down at us and crossed his arms, he seemed to be chewing on the inside of his cheek.  He was irritated but refused to lose his composure in this moment.  I guess he didn’t take Stark berating him very well.  Stark then put his other arm under my legs and heaved me up into a princess carry.  I think I managed to glare at him, which only seemed to amuse him.

 

“I’ll take her inside.  It’s too cold out here.”

 

Jumin softly nodded and walked alongside Stark towards the warehouse.  I felt like I could fall back to sleep at any moment, but I needed to be strong.  I needed to get out of here.  Yoosung made it clear that these assaults wouldn’t stop, people would keep getting hurt.  The least I could do is try to bargain for Hae’s freedom in exchange for my own.  I might have failed her by keeping my secrets, but I wouldn’t in this.  I would make it up to her by giving her the normal life she had always wanted, the life I already got to enjoy at her expense.  They weren’t desperate to find me because they still had Hae.  They didn’t _need_ me, so I was going to try my best to make sure they wouldn’t need her from now on.  I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye.  Any hint of my intentions would set off her alarm bells and I didn’t want her to come looking for me.  I would have to entrust her to Jaehee for now. 

 

Stark carried me all the way to the bunk room.  A place we used if we needed to just crash for a few hours or couldn’t be bothered to go home.  Lotus had managed to avoid detection by hiding behind the other side of the door to the office.  She was lucky that they were trying to avoid conflict at all cost.  Amun and Raz had run into them during their escape.  Raz was knocked unconscious while Amun was sprayed with the same concoction they sprayed me with.  Stark seemed oddly calm about the whole thing, though I suppose it could have been much worse.  Losing Yoosung would cause more of a headache for Jumin than it would for Stark, which was the beauty of not being fully in charge.  Stark placed me down on one of the beds and sat down beside it on the floor.  Jumin lingered in the doorway until Stark turned his head to look at him.  Jumin rolled his eyes before wandering off.

 

I put my head in my hands.  “What’s… going on with you two?”

 

“Do you have amnesia?”

 

“N-no?”

 

 “Then why are you asking me that?” He tilted his head to the side with a smirk, “You were there.”

 

“Yes, sure, but why is he angry at you?”

 

He stared at me for a few second before looking at the door.

 

“Wow.  I’ve never seen you so lost for words before.”

 

“Oh, shut up,” He stood up and began pacing though the room, “You know he hates people pointing out his mistakes or disagreeing with him.  He’s just being bad-tempered, as usual.”

 

“It seems worse than usual.”

 

“Then feel free to ask him about it.  I have things to do, regardless of his sulking,” He rolled his eyes, “So, what happened out there?”

 

“I saw them escaping so I ran after them and they drugged me.”  I quickly summarised while examining at my nails.  “What happened in here?”

 

Stark sighed.  “Only you could make such a dangerous situation sound dull.”

 

“Well, nothing else really happened.”  I shrugged, trying to act natural.  “So, more importantly, how did he escape?”

 

He levelled his gaze at me for a few seconds before conceding.  “With the help of the only other person who could have accessed the code; Saeran.”

 

I looked down at the edge of the bed.  It was the most logical conclusion, I could hardly argue with him.  It was possible that Mint Eye could have hacked the system, merely a coincidence that Saeran had been captured the day before, but Stark had been suspicious of Saeran for a long time.  It’s also possible that Mint Eye could have extracted the code from Saeran, but he would have still in a sense, betrayed us.

 

He leant against the wall.  “I see you do not disagree.”

 

“How can I?”  I rolled my eyes up to meet his.  “To get in and out that cleanly, it had to be someone that had spent a decent amount of time here.”

 

“Exactly.  Which is why I said that he couldn’t be trusted, same as Rika,” He gestured with his hand in a way that suggested this fact had been obvious, “He didn’t take that vey well, since he has been cosying up to her.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

He scoffed, flicking his hair back from his eyes.  “Ask him about where he’s been.  It’s very… illuminating.”

 

“You mean…”  I scrunched up my nose.  “He was with her while we were struggling to get in contact with him?”

 

“Essentially.”  He rested his head against the wall. “Sounds like he was too busy introducing her to his investors.”

 

“For what purpose?”

 

“I was too angry to ask.”  He lightly propelled himself away from the wall.  “As I said, feel free to ask him at your leisure.”  He began to walk towards the door.

 

“Hey, is there anything I can do?”

 

He paused in the doorway before shaking his head.  “Just get some rest while you can MC.  Everything is a mess right now.”

 

Stark marched off down the hallway and I slouched back against the thin, flattened pillow.  I didn’t fancy talking to Jumin.  He was no doubt in a shitty mood anyway.  I knew he was busy and would have no patience for my complaints even if they were valid.  He was likely punishing himself in his own head, which would explain his surly attitude.  He was a disappointment to everyone and he knew it.  Plus, I didn’t really want to hear about he was galivanting around with Rika, or his meagre justification for it.  Jumin must have said something of little substance for Stark to be so angry.  The team and I didn’t deserve to die because of Jumin’s soft spot for Rika.  Jumin’s resources would have allowed us access to his private security, close ties to the police and government agencies. 

 

I shuffled to the edge of the bed and hopped up to my feet.  I peered around the edge door.  There didn’t appear to be anyone around, so I headed off to the back entrance.  I could use the new ‘exit’ that Yoosung and maybe Saeran had used and walk through the forest to get to the main road.  Everyone should be busy dealing with the aftermath of the escape, too busy to notice my departure.

 

The sun had started to set as I wandered through the forest, vague memories of a pathway leading me through the brush.  At this point, however, it was dark.  I had avoided this side of town for years, but it all felt so familiar to me now.  The same shops lined the streets, families that were vaguely recognisable greeted me with a slight nod.  They didn’t know me or anything, they were just friendly, the close-knit community type.  Now I think about it… perhaps that was creepier than it had once seemed.  Like one of those outwardly friendly, evil cult towns.  _For the greater good,_ and all that.  Even though Stark’s team had been busy, they had still briefly checked out the area.  There wasn’t anything particularly suspicious, it had operated as expected for a residential space.  The weirdest place here was of course my parents’ house; they had noticed a few strange visitors coming and going, pulling up in maintenance vans despite being dressed in suits, that sort of thing.  Though I was already aware that my father liked to keep his security close to home, so it wasn’t much of a surprise. 

 

I walked around the back of the house and noticed that the lights were off.  Before I committed to this harebrained venture, I sent a message to Jaehee on the app, asking her to look after Hae for me.  I knew she wouldn’t see it for some time.  Using the small jutting out stones, I managed to climb the seven-foot wall that surrounded the property.  It was more difficult than I remembered, were my feet smaller back then or did I just have more practice?  I was amazed that they still hadn’t fixed this particular exploit of mine after all the times I snuck in and out of the house late at night, just to get away from the place.  You’d think it would be worth it just for the additional security.  When my feet touched the grass on the other side, I kept close to the wall and walked over towards where my room used to be.  I made sure to stay low and quiet, just in case someone still lingered here.  I should be able to still climb up to my old room’s bay window using the sunroom beneath it.  At least, that’d how I used to get in and out of the house.  It still had the same flowers sitting in the planter attached to my window, so maybe the key for the window was still buried within the soil as well?  I hiked myself up onto the sunroom using the banister on the porch opposite and slowly crawled up the glass roof toward the window.  I had to be careful.  The glass had been cleaned recently, so I didn’t want to fall off or make a squeaking noise with my shoes.  When I reached the window, I also had to hold onto the edge of the windowsill to stop myself from sliding back down while I dug around in the soil.  I almost gave up when I felt my fingertip graze against the end of the tiny key which had sunk to the bottom of the planter.  I pulled it out, smoothed the remaining soil back down and then quickly wiped my soiled hand onto my trousers.  I pulled myself up to my knees and opened the small top section of the window, just managing to squeeze myself inside.  I landed heavily on the bay window seat, but it didn’t make too much noise thanks to the overabundance of pillows.  I laid there for a minute or so to catch my breath before panning my eyes around the overly nostalgic room. 

 

Hae was not joking when she said that the room was untouched.  My books were sat in the same haphazard fashion on my desk from when I last opened them to study, the pillows I laid upon were the same, same stuffed animals and trinkets, same stationary and make-up.  However, there was not a hint of dust or stagnation, so someone, more than likely my mother, still maintained the room.  This look into the past was eerie.  I felt like I could pick up where I had left off five years ago, like nothing had happened.  I was lucky to get away from here in the first place.  I just happened to have a friend whose parents worked overseas and was generous enough to help me out for free.  I lived there for three years, yet I haven’t seen them since I managed to get my own apartment.  Both too busy trying to get our foot in the door and then we lost touch.  Back then it was a live-changing decision, now I eye it with caution, demanding an explanation simply for someone’s kind-hearted nature.  What was their angle, their ulterior motive?  These days, it was difficult for me to fully trust anyone, everything slowly became tainted by Mint Eye, my parents or some other form of deceit.  Even my new, previously unconnected friends were falling into the chaos, whether they wanted to or not.  An emotional black hole.

 

I slowly rolled off the window seat and up to my feet.  I kept my movements slow and precise, avoiding making too much unnecessary noise.  While I wasn’t intending to leave here, I didn’t want to cause alarm.  I knew they surrounded themselves with strong, capable people because they were paranoid.  I walked out to the hallway and could hear a faint sound of music from downstairs.  As I suspected, someone was here.  I quickly glanced at my phone in my pocket.  I had several messages from Zen, who mystifyingly already knew what I was up to and begged for me to return.  However, I knew they he would struggle to get in touch with anyone who could help him, so I didn’t have to worry unless he decided to intervene on his own.  If he had truly seen what awaited me, I would think he would take the smart option and bail me out later with the help of more capable people.  I put the phone away, back in my jacket pocket and took a deep breath.  I glided down the familiar steps and paused before the living room door.  Since I was here, I might as well snoop around first, make this visit more useful, so I wandered over to my Father’s office.  I didn’t hold out too much hope that he stored his important documents here, but he might surprise me.

 

I slowly opened the notoriously creaky door, leaving myself _just_ enough room to slide inside.  Father’s desk was littered with various documents.  Most of them were about various business deals I knew nothing about, so I wrote down the company names in a text for Stark in case he could find something useful such as cutting some of Mint Eye’s funding.  At the bottom of the pile, there was a large envelope filled with photographs.  I spread them across the table and discovered they were all photos of me over the past few months, including my different disguises.  If they’ve been watching me all this time, why did they mostly leave me alone?  I had only had a few interactions with them this past year, the main one being when they took me to that strange abandoned hotel.  Yet they had photos of me after that event and didn’t come for me again until Yoosung chased me though the city, supposedly of his own volition. 

 

I turned away from the desk with a frown and slid back though the door, heading over to the Livingroom.  I lightly pushed the door open and watched as it swung away from me.  I heard the ruffling of fabric and a scrape against the wooden floor.  There was a pause before I heard a familiar voice.

 

“Hello?”  My mother’s soft voice called out into the dimly lit room.  “Daeshim?”

 

I stared at a fraying corner of the long rug; it looked as tired as she sounded.  Mother held no sentiment for furniture, why would she keep something so shabby and old?  I shook my head and pulled myself together.  I needed to focus on the task at hand.  I took and deep breath and walked through the door to the right corner of the room, a few feet away from my mother.  She put he fingers to her lips, staring at me.  The colour had drained from her uncharacteristically bare face, seems I caught her completely by surprise.

 

“Mina?”  She asked quietly, as though she didn’t believe I was really standing before her.

 

“Yes, Mother?”

 

She gripped onto the blanket she was wrapped in before bolting to her feet, nearly stumbling over the material.

 

“You shouldn’t be here.”  She squeaked, quickly stomping toward me.

 

I instinctively stepped back until my back hit the wall with my hands held up in surrender.  She quickly pressed her hand to my mouth and used the other to indicate that I should be quiet.  I narrowed my eyes at her, but she held her ground, moving closer to me so she could whisper close to my ear.

 

“They are listening,” She began, pointing towards a bookshelf in the far corner of the room, “We don’t have much time.  They may already be coming.”  She slowly removed her hand from my mouth.

 

I tilted my head down towards her, so I could keep quiet.  “Mint Eye is listening?”

 

She nodded.  “They listen to everyone.  Which is why you need to leave before they come back.” 

 

She began to lead me down the hallway towards the backdoor by my sleeve.  I had so many questions, but barely any time to ask them.

 

“You haven’t been looking for us?”

 

“No.” She briefly turned her head to look at me.  “Well… we watch from afar, but never engage.  We want to keep you safe from the others.”

 

“Safe?  What about all the times when-?”

 

“We were not involved in that.  That was all _them_ and all their sick plans-”

 

She suddenly stopped in the hallway, just before we reached the door.  There was a dark silhouette behind the glass.  She placed a hand on my shoulder and looked at the floor.

 

“I’m sorry.”  She whispered as the back door swung open.  Her face suddenly lit up, as if greeting the strange man in the doorway.  “It seems our dear daughter has made a surprise appearance.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work, so thank you for reading :)


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